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TOUCHING  INCIDENTS 


IN  THE  LIFE  AND  LABORS 


OF  A  PIONEER 


ON  THE 


PACIFIC  COAST  SINCE 


1853 


EATON    a    CO..     PRINTERS 
SAN   JOSE.   CAL..    1911 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PACr: 

I.     History  and   Biography    13 

J  I.  Duty  and  Destiny   22 

III.  Talk  to  San  Jose  Grange 28 

IV.  How  a  Grizzly  Looks  Twenty  Feet  Behind  You  36 
V.  How  1  Lost  and  Found  My  Money 39 

VI.  Apostrophe  to  the  Flag 44 

VII.  The  Work  of  the  Pioneer 46 

VIII.  The   Provisional   Government 51 

IX.  Historical  Error  of  Sir  George  Seymour 70 

X.     The  Raising  of  First  American  Flag  in 

Santa   Clara   County 75 

XI.     Memorial  Poem  Recited  at  Vernon,  N.  Y 83 

XII.     The  Ascent  of  Mt.  Hood 97 

XIII.  Fourth  of  July  Oration  at  Santa  Rosa 106 

XIV.  That  Other  Bear,  and  How  I  Escaped 118 

XV.     The  Light  and  Guide  of  Humanity 122 

XVI.     My  First  Acquaintance  with  the  Klamath 

Indians 124 

XVII.     Elected  Chief  of  the  Klamath  Indians 132 

XVIII.     On  \'isiting  the  Old  Homestead 138 

/ 


CIIAPTICR  PACn 

XIX.     A    Xevv   Enterprise 140 

XX.     First  View  of  the  Potomac  River 149 

XXI.     Some  of  the  Perils  of  Pioneer  Days 151 

XXII.     Returning  Home  from  the  East 155 

XXIII.  Composed  on  Our  Golden  Wedding  Day 156 

XXIV.  ( )n  the  Opening  of  the  RebelHon  157 

XXV.     What  Constitutes  a  State 159 

XXVI.     How  I  Destroyed  the  Des  Chutes  Ferry 160 

XXVII.     Lincoln 170 

XXVIII.     Political    Equality    174 

XXIX.     Classification 181 

XXX.     Verse 184 

XXXI.     Maxims 189 


PREFATORY  NOTE 


npilIS  little  volume  had  its  conception  in  a  strong  and  pre- 
vailing desire  manifested  amongst  the  early  settlers  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  to  learn  something  of  each  others  past  experience, 
and  also  at  the  same  time,  to  study  the  character  and  capacity 
of  the  physical,  social  and  intellectual  materials  that  was  fast 
aggregating  into  a  new  community  for  a  new  work  and  a  new 
order.  If  the  knowledge  and  inspiration  derived  from  this  source 
sliall  aid  in  any  measure  in  promoting  the  cause  of  truth  and  the 
pleasures  of  human   fellowship,   we   shall   feel   ourselves  amply 

compensated  for  our  time  and  toil. 

The  Author. 


CHAPTER  I. 

History  and  Biography. 

pHV.  JOSEPH  WILKINSON  HINES,  the  subject  of  this 
*^  biographical  sketch,  is  at  the  present  writing  (1904)  the 
president  of  the  Santa  Clara  County  Society  of  California  Pio- 
neers, a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  University  of  the 
Pacific  and  also  actively  identified  with  several  other  local  asso- 
ciations designed  to  promote  the  various  material,  social  and  in- 
tellectual interests  of  the  State  for  whose  expansion  and  up- 
building he  has,  in  various  relations,  spent  the  prime  and  strength 
of  his  manhood.  From  the  time  his  feet  first  pressed  the  soil 
of  California,  nearly  half  a  century  ago,  until  now,  when  his 
brow  wears  the  silver  crown  of  nearly  four  score  years,  his  hand 
has  never  wearied  and  his  heart  has  never  faltered  in  honorable 
and  intelligent  efifort  to  make  his  adopted  state  what  it  confess- 
edly is  at  the  present  time — one  of  the  grandest  and  most  prom- 
ising commonwealths  in  the  great  American  Union.  Independent 
but  not  obtrusive,  zealous  but  not  impulsive,  possessed  of  a  won- 
derful versatility,  his  mental  habitudes  were  well  adapted  to  the 
varied  and  pressing  demands  of  a  new  and  rapidly  growing 
community,  where  ideals  for  future  guidance  were  to  be  created, 
and  various  uplifting  and  progressive  agencies  were  to  be  em- 
ployed and  fitted  to  the  demands  and  exigencies  of  a  rapidly 
shifting  and  varying  scene.  A  mind  thus  endowed  could  scarce- 
ly be  expected  to  remain  indilYerent  to  anv  phase  of  society  that 


14  LIFK    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

might,  in  the  process  of  social  development,  present  itself  for  con- 
sideration by  the  people. 

Mr.  Hines.  therefore,  in  common  with  many  others  at  that 
early  day  in  our  history,  lost  no  time  in  fearlessly  grappling  with 
all  questions  of  interest  as  they  successively  presented  them- 
selves. His  genius  for  planning  and  pushing  forward  all  en- 
terprises calculated  to  improve  the  conditions  and  prospects  of 
society  in  all  its  essential  needs  was  truly  wonderful.  No  com- 
munity that  ever  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  this  counsel  and  laboi 
but  could  show  in  many  directions  substantial  evidences  of  his 
public-spirited  efforts  in  its  behalf.  His  consciousness  of  per- 
sonal honesty  and  integrity  would  never  allow  him  to  apologize 
for  appearing  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  progress  and  reform,  or 
to  participate  in  efforts  to  compromise  with  wrongdoing  in  order 
to  gain  some  personal  advantage  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  public 
good.  His  mind  was  never  groping  in  the  dark  alleys  of  agnos- 
tic uncertainty  or  striving  to  feel  its  dubious  way  in  the  twilight 
uncertainties  of  questionable  expediency.  With  a  positiveness 
sometimes  bordering  upon  obstinacy  he  always  stood 
"Firm  as  an  iron  pillar  strong, 
And  steadfast  as  a  wall  of  brass." 

Like  all  men  of  advanced  views,  with  positive  and  aggres- 
sive feelings  and  purposes,  he  was  compelled  at  times  to  wait 
with  patience  for  the  day  of  vindication  ;  but  that  day  was  sure 
to  come,  responsive  to  the  dcnuuids  of  a  faith  that  would  never 
falter  and  a  spiritual  instinct  that  cheerfully  allied  itself  with 
the  omnipotent  energies  of  eternal  truth. 

Mr.  Hines,  in  common  with  a  host  of  others  of  similar  traits 
of  character,  was  privileged  to  live  during  one  of  the  most  trying 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  1$ 

eras  in  the  history  of  the  Pacific  coast.  And  we  are  assured  that 
to  their  wise  and  determined  efforts  the  people  of  the  present  day 
are  greatly  indebted  for  the  prosperous  and  enviable  condition 
of  its  material,  social  and  religious  interests.  But  very  few  of 
those  heroic  men  who  faced  the  fearful  crisis  of  i860- 1865  and 
saved  human  freedom  for  ourselves  and  for  the  world  are  with 
us  today.  Nearly  all  are  now  dwelling  in  that  "city  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  took  a  prominent  part  in  organ- 
izing the  Republican  party,  which  at  that  time  was  the  only  re- 
liable force  that  could  be  depended  upon  to  turn  back  the  rapidly 
rising  tide  of  secession  in  California.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the 
first  general  convention  of  that  party  in  the  State,  served  on  the 
committee  on  platform,  of  which  he  was  the  chief  author,  and 
labored  with  unflagging  industry  and  devotion  in  carrying  the 
state  for  Lincoln  and  Stanford.  This  political  victory  saved  the 
Pacific  Coast  from  becoming  plunged  into  the  dark,  yawning 
gulf  of  rebellion,  and  drew  the  eyes  of  the  nation  to  her  unriv- 
aled importance  as  a  member  of  the  American  Union. 

When  our  national  authorities  wisely  decided  not  to  call 
for  recruits  for  the  Union  army  from  California  he  took  an  active 
part  in  raising  the  seventeen  thousand  volunteers  who  so  brave- 
ly and  effectually  guarded  our  extended  frontier,  which  then 
reached  from  Puget  Sound  to  the  borders  of  Texas.  It  was  those 
noble  men  who  headed  off  the  expedition  from  the  South  who 
were  expected  to  form  a  junction  with  a  band  of  conspirators 
from  California  and  together  sweep  the  whole  coast  into  the 
Southern  confederacy.  Then  Maximilian  would  have  had  an 
empire  on  the  Pacific,  and  Jeff  Davis  another  on  the  Atlantic, 


l6  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF  A    PIONEKR 

and  the  sun  of  religions  and  civil  liberty  would  have  set  forever. 
Men  of  today,  will  you  remember  the  men  who  trod  the  burning 
sands  of  the  desert  and  scaled  the  rocky  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains that  you  and  your  children  might  have  a  country  to  love 
and  defend,  and  a  brightening  hope  to  cheer  the  generations  yet 
unborn  ? 

At  the  opening  of  our  Civil  War  Mr.  Hines  received  com- 
missions from  the  proper  authorities  in  the  east  to  act  as  agent 
of  both  the  sanitary  and  Christian  associations  on  the  Pacmt 
Coast.  He  at  once  eptered  upon  his  work  with  his  accustomed 
zeal  and  devotion.  His  entire  time,  together  with  all  his  surplus 
income,  were  freely  given  to  the  cause  of  the  country ;  and  his 
success  in  raising  money  and  other  supplies  for  the  army  was 
such  as  to  call  forth  an  autograph  letter  from  General  Grant, 
which  he  now  has  in  his  possession  and  which  is  kept  as  an  heir- 
loom valued  beyond  all  price.  The  special  incident  which  called 
forth  this  letter  from  the  general  may  be  stated  in  the  folio v/ing 
words :  The  ladies  of  Humboldt  county,  where  Mr.  Hines  and 
family  then  resided,  and  where  Grant,  when  but  a  captain  in  the 
United  States  army,  had  once  been  stationed,  conceived  the  idea 
of  .sending  a  unique  memorial  present  to  Mrs.  Grant.  In  order 
to  do  this,  and  at  the  same  time  raise  funds  for  the  Christian 
commission,  they  made  a  quilt  composed  of  thirty-six  separate 
and  distinct  Union  flags,  with  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  United 
States  wrought  on  a  field  of  blue  as  a  centerpiece,  and  the  coat 
of  arms  of  each  state  on  a  blue  field  for  each  separate  banner. 
These  thirty-six  flags  represented  the  number  of  states  then  in 
the  Union,  while  eight  silver  spangles  on  the  border  stood  for 
the   number  of  the  territories  then   existing.     The  material  of 


ON    TIIlv    I'ACII'IC    COAST    SINCIC    1853  1/ 

which  this  quilt  was  composed  was  beautiful  colored  silk,  and 
the  stars,  numbering  about  six  hundred,  and  the  coat  of  arms, 
both  of  the  United  States,  and  of  each  separate  state,  were  of 
floss  silk,  and  all  wrought  by  hand,  nearly  all  by  Mrs.  Hines,  she 
being  especially  skillful  in  the  use  of  the  needle.  When  this 
unique  gift  was  completed  (but  very  few  people  having  been 
left  into  the  secret)  almost  the  entire  population  for  miles  around 
came  together  to  witness  the  unveiling.  It  was  given  out  that 
each  banner  would  be  sold  separately  and  only  those  coming 
from  the  state  the  banner  represented  could  vote  upon  it.  The 
central  field,  representing  the  United  States,  was  to  be  bid  for 
promiscuously,  without  regard  to  state  lines  or  nationality.  The 
interest  in  the  aflfair  was  most  intense  and  at  the  close  it  was 
found  that  the  sum  of  $2,400  had  been  raised  for  the  cause  of 
the  Union.  The  quilt  was  then  sent  to  Mrs.  Grant,  and  in  re- 
sponse the  general  returned  the  short  but  beautiful  autograph 
letter  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Hines.  When  General  Grant 
and  his  wife  made  the  circuit  of  the  world  they  visited  San  Jose 
and  she  stated  to  Mrs.  Hines  that  she  cherished  that  beautiful 
quilt,  made  by  the  ladies  of  Humboldt,  as  one  of  her  most  val- 
ued treasures. 

Space  will  not  permit  of  an  extended  recital  of  the  thrilling 
adventures  and  hairbreadth  escapes  through  which  Mr.  Hines 
passed  in  his  travels  over  the  coast  during  its  pioneer  history. 
They  would  fill  a  volume,  and  if  told  in  his  graphic  and  earnest 
style  would  be  deeply  interesting  and  instructive  to  future  gener- 
ations. His  travels  in  the  earlier  days  frequently  took  him 
among  the  Indians  tribes  of  Oregon  and  northern  California,  and 
into  association   with  the  rough  element  of  our   frontier  settle- 


iS  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    TIONEER 

ments ;  but  such  was  his  tact  and  quiet,  fearless  demeanor  that 
he  never  failed  to  command,  and  never  lost  the  confidence  and 
respect  of  both  the  good  and  the  bad  with  whom  he  came  in  con- 
tact. He  never  carried  about  his  person  any  deadly  weapons 
and  never  displayed  any  doubts  or  fears :  and  even  the  wildest 
Indians  seemed  so  attracted  and  pleased  by  his  cordial,  unsus- 
picious conduct  that  they  were  at  once  disarmed  of  all  feeling 
of  hostility. 

When  the  Civil  war  closed  with  the  signal  triumph  of  the 
Union  cause  Mr.  Hines.  with  the  same  broad  patriotic  feeling 
that  had  characterized  his  conduct  during  its  continuance,  bent  all 
his  energies  to  bringing  about  those  feelings  of  mutual  sympa- 
thy and  respect  between  the  north  and  the  south,  without  which 
he  felt  that  no  permanent  union  or  prosperity  could  be  expected 
for  the  country.  He  fully  endorsed  the  sentiment  expressed  by 
General  Grant  at  the  surrender  of  Lee,  "Let  us  have  peace,"  and 
he  labored  to  that  end  with  constant  and  intelligent  devotion. 

Having  been  elected  as  superintendent  of  public  instruction 
for  one  of  our  most  populous  counties,  Mr.  Hines  found  himself 
associated  with  many  of  the  leading  educators  of  the  state  in  re- 
vising our  common  school  system  and  bringing  it  more  in  har- 
mony with  the  advanced  ideas  of  the  eastern  states.  This  work 
was  accomplished  in  such  a  thorough  and  satisfactory  manner 
that  California  stands  today  without  a  superior  in  all  the  states 
of  the  L'nion  for  the  perfection  and  practical  operation  of  its 
common  school  system.  He  served  also  for  about  two  years  as 
agent  of  the  University  of  the  Pacific.  His  success  in  that  po- 
sition was  so  signal  and  timely  that  the  board  of  trustees  passed 
a  vote  of  thanks,  in  which  they  ascribed  the  success  of  its  finan- 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  I9 

cial  affairs  largely  due  to  his  devoted  and  determined  effort.  In 
more  than  one  pressing  emergency  he  bravely  met  the  demands 
of  the  crisis  and  caused  the  somber  clouds  of  doubt  and  uncer- 
tainty to  give  place  to  the  sunlight  of  hope  and  assurance. 

Mr.  Hines  possesses  a  decided  literary  taste,  and  has  always 
managed,  notwithstanding  the  pressing  duties  incident  to  a  new 
and  growing  state,  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  literary  and  scien- 
tific progress  of  the  age.  As  editor  of  the  first  labor  paper  pub- 
lished on  the  Pacific  Coast  his  editorial  writings  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  secular  press  throughout  the  country,  and  were 
universally  regarded  as  masterly  expositions  of  social  and  econ- 
omic science.  His  contributions  to  other  periodicals,  both  relig- 
ious and  secular,  were  numerous  and  able,  and  read  by  the  people 
in  general  with  decided  interest  and  profit.  As  a  ready  enter- 
taining speaker  he  was  everywhere  listened  to  with  decided  ap- 
preciation. He  possessed  in  a  wonderful  degree  the  power  of 
concentration,  one  very  competent  judge  having  once  declared 
that  "he  could  say  more  in  five  minutes  than  any  other  man  he 
ever  heard."  As  an  after-dinner  speaker  he  had  but  few  super- 
iors. 

By  referring  to  the  ancestry  of  Joseph  Wilkinson  Hines,  we 
find  that  he  was  the  tenth  child  of  James  and  Betsey  (Round) 
Hines,  the  latter  a  daughter  of  Bertram  and  Alice  (Wilkinson) 
Round.  Bertram  Round  was  the  son  of  James  and  Susannah 
(Seamen)  Round,  and  was  born  in  Rehoboth,  Mass.,  Decembei- 
II,  1741.  James  Round  was  born  in  Rehoboth,  Mass.,  July  19, 
1722,  and  was  the  son  of  George  and  Susanna  Round.  George 
Round  was  the  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Round.  John  Round's 
will  is  recorded  in  the  town  records  as  made  October  16,  1716. 


20  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

1  his  John  Round  was  the  boy  saved  from  the  Indian  massacre 
of  Swansea  in  1675.  ^^  ^s  probable  his  parents  were  then  killed. 
James  Round  and  his  son  Bertram,  who  w^as  grandfather  to 
Mr.  Hines.  emigrated  from  Swansea  to  Rhode  Island,  and  thence 
to  Richfield,  X.  Y.,  in  1793,  where  he  died  October  i,  1835,  leav- 
ing two  hundred  and  thirty-six  descendants ;  one  of  whom, 
Stephen  Hopkins  of  Rhode  Island,  was  a  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  The  Round  family  was  of  pure  English 
descent.  Alice  Wilkinson,  wife  of  Bertram  Round  and  grand- 
mother of  Mr.  Hines,  was  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Martha 
( Bray)  Wilkinson,  great-granddaughter  of  Samuel  and  Plain 
(Wickenden)  Wilkinson  and  great-great-granddaughter  of 
Lawrence  and  Susanna  (Smith)   Wilkinson. 

Lawrence  Wilkinson  came  to  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1645.  His 
ancestry  is  given  in  a  book  entitled  "Americans  of  Royal  De- 
scent," page  287-289,  and  shows  him  to  have  been  the  fifteenth 
from  King  Edward  I  of  England,  and  also  that  he  was  descended 
from  the  royal  house  of  both  France  and  Spain.  The  Wilkinson 
genealogy  is  given  fully  in  a  volume  published  in  1869,  by  Rev. 
Israel  Wilkinson  of  Illinois. 

-Mr.  Hines  was  married  August  30,  1847,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Meridith,  of  Steuben,  Oneida  county,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were 
both  natives  of  Wales,  but  were  brought  to  this  country  when 
children,  and  were  reared  in  full  sympathy  with  American  life 
and  institutions.  Eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters, 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hines.  Three  of  these,  one  son  and 
two  daughters,  died  in  early  life,  while  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters now  live  within  easy  access  of  the  paternal  home. 

We  have  here  attempted  to  give  a  few  incidents  -in  the  long, 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  21 

eventful  career  of  one  who  was  ambitious  only  to  live  a  true, 
manly  life,  devoted  to  the  best  good  of  universal  humanity.  His 
ideals  of  life  were  always  found  to  harmonize  with  man's  high- 
est needs  and  his  purest  and  most  earnest  aspirations.  Such  men, 
though  not  always  understood  and  appreciated  while  living,  gen- 
erally have  an  influence  that  will  unfold  itself  in  the  flowering 
beauties  and  ripening  harvests  of  future  generations.  To  lose 
such  lives  from  the  records  of  time  is  to  obstruct  in  a  positive 
degree  the  march  of  civilization  and  to  foster  the  sinister  impul- 
ses that  will  tend  to  gradual  but  fatal  retrogression.  So  let  us 
give  the  world  the  light  that  we  now  have,  and  when  the  sum- 
mons comes  drop  into  the  swelling  current  of  the  stream  of  time 
those  noble  influences  that  will  make  it  a  broader,  deeper  and  a 
swifter  river.  Through  these  and  their  work,  as  the  prophet  has 
said,  "Instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir  tree,  and  in- 
stead of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle  tree,  and  it  shall  be 
to  the  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign  that  shall  not  be 
cut  off." 


LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  II. 
Duty  and  Destiny. 

'  I  'HERE  is  no  cruelty  so  great,  so  oppressive  and  so  destruc- 
*  tive,  as  that  which  is  exercised  upon  sentient  and  intelligent 
beings  when  their  hearts  and  lives  are  made  the  conscious  recep- 
tacle of  a  legitimate  want  or  desire,  and  no  adequate  and  approp- 
riate means  are  furnished  for  their  proper  gratification.  God,  in 
the  order  of  nature,  leaves  no  such  blot  upon  the  universe  He 
has  made.  As  surely  as  the  lily  blooms  in  its  loveliness,  and  the 
grass  of  the  field  clothes  itself  in  emerald  beauty,  or  the  sparrow 
carols  its  song  from  the  shady  leaves,  so  surely  has  our  wise  and 
loving  Father  made  rich  and  ample  provision  for  all  the  wants 
of  His  unnumbered  offspring. 

Wisely  was  it  said  by  one  of  old,  "Man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone."  This  saying  invests  humanity  with  a  worth  and 
dignity  far  above  all  inanimate  or  purely  animal  creations.  It 
lifts  him  at  once  out  of  the  narrow  sphere  of  material  things, 
into  the  higher  realm  of  reason  and  faith.  Eating  and  drinking 
now  become  means  and  not  ends  of  his  existence. 

Not  here  and  now  have  we  time  or  space  to  trace  the  suc- 
cessive steps  that  have  led  up  to  the  conditions  and  alternatives 
of  the  present  hour.  .Suffice  it  to  say,  that  any  thoughtful  person 
must  see  that  a  fearful  crisis  is  now  upon  us.  All  hearts  seem 
to  feel  the  thrilling  touch  of  a  wonderful  and  mysterious  pres- 
ence. Lessons  of  deep  and  mighty  import  are  being  impressed 
upon  minds  hitherto  unused  to  serious  reflection. 


ON    THE    PACIKIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  23 

Every  thought  and  every  act  that  we  put  forth  to-day  cre- 
ates a  necessity  for  other  acts  and  other  thoughts  to-morrow. 
Physically  we  may  live  and  thrive  on  a  uniformity  of  supply,  but 
mentally,  spiritually  and  socially  we  cannot.  In  all  these  latter 
things  we  must  go  on  growing  greater  and  better,  or  perish.  Civ- 
ilization, then,  invests  humanity  not  only  with  an  exalted  and  in- 
estimable privilege,  but  also  with  a  serious  and  fearful  responsi- 
bility. 

With  the  man  or  associations  who  may  feel  disposed  to  lay 
claim  to  the  chief  honor  of  having  achieved  the  world's  present 
advancement,  we  have  no  controversy.  Whatever  their  form  or 
name,  if  their  claims  are  vindicated,  they  shall  stand  approved  be- 
fore the  world. 

For  long  ages  the  various  elements  of  progression  have  been 
doing  their  appointed  work,  and  the  hour  has  at  last  struck  that 
marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  cycle.  The  is  and  the  ought  must 
now  be  brought  into  nearer  companionship.  The  tcaitt  and  the 
haz-e  must  be  more  harmoniously  blended  in  the  experience  of 
the  future,  or  the  moral  and  social  integrity  of  the  world  must 
be  destroyed. 

The  hero  cannot  create  the  type,  neither  furnish  the  ele- 
ments which  create  a  civilization.  It  is  the  work  of  all,  and  all 
are  entitled  to  its  benefits.  The  thought  that  most  perplexes  us 
to-day  is,  how  shall  our  boasted  Christian  civilization  vindicate  its 
right  to  continue  ?  Beyond  question,  it  can  be  only  b}'  a  prompt 
and  successful  effort  to  supply  the  demands  which  itself  has 
created. 

A  comfortable  and  attractive  home,  time  for  thought  and 
social  intercourse,  a  sense  of  comparative  freedom,  healthful  and 


24  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF    A    PIONEER 

sufficient  food,  attractive  and  inspiring-  recreation,  correct  knowl- 
edge of  the  responsibilities  and  dependencies  of  personal  and  col- 
lective life,  these  are  a  few  of  the  objects  and  duties  brought  be- 
fore us  and  placed  upon  us  by  the  civilizing  influences  of  the  past. 
These  may  not  all  be  understood  or  appreciated  by  many,  but 
that  they  should  be  made  possible  to  all  is  obviously  the  duty  of 
the  hour. 

And  now,  brothers,  bear  with  me  a  moment  while  I  press 
with  sincerity  and  earnestness  this  all-important  question:  Is  it 
the  plan  and  the  purpose  of  our  present  social  and  political  or- 
ganizations to  seek  to  invest  humanity  w^ith  these  noble  and  es- 
sential environments  and  blessings?  That  humanity  sees  the 
need  of  these  things,  after  having  felt  so  long  the  power  of  ad- 
verse principles  and  practice,  is  a  marvel.  That  alone  stamps  the 
race  with  the  signet  of  divinity.  It  tells  of  possibilities  beyond 
the  power  of  human  conception. 

Without  attempting  to  fetter  your  thoughts  and  desires  by 
a  too  distinct  and  positive  array  of  theoretic  formula,  we  here  and 
now  challenge  you  as  Christians,  as  philanthropists,  as  patriots,  as 
lovers  of  truth  and  justice,  and  above  all  and  beyond  all,  as  men 
and  women  inspired  by  a  common  hope  and  created  for  a  com- 
mon destiny,  to  put  together  in  solid  and  irresistible  volume  the 
strength  and  wisdom  that  from  all  worlds  and  from  all  beings 
come  to  your  hearts  and  minds,  and  beat  down  and  destroy 
the  competition  that  brutalizes,  and  the  selfishness  that  degrades, 
and  let  humanity  have  what  it  has  earned  anrl  realize  what  it 
has  expected. 

In  the  imperative  need  that  this  work  be  done,  Nationalism 
discovers  her  inspiring  mission.    In  the  realization  of  its  ultimate 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  25 

accomplishment  she  will  reap  her  beatitude  of  joy  and  her  crown 
of  honor.  And  when  she  hath  done  this — as  she  surely  will — is 
there  on  earth  or  heaven  one  harp  too  sweet  and  melodious  to 
strike  its  chords  to  her  praise  and  glory?  Proudly  and  joyously 
let  her  now  fling  her  banner  to  the  breezes  of  all  lands,  while 
you  all  shall  see  in  letters  of  living  light,  emblazoned  upon  tlic 
ample  folds,  "Peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  man.'" 

With  our  eye  fixed  upon  the  most  truthful  and  sacred  of  all 
inspired  records,  with  our  minds  pondering  upon  the  vast  and 
wonderful  possibilities  revealed  in  all  that  humanity  has  or  is, 
with  our  souls  uplifted  and  energized  by  a  knowledge  of  the  past 
and  present  of  our  race,  we  cannot,  and  dare  not,  intimate  that 
its  course  is  already  run,  or  its  appointed  destiny  already  accom- 
plished. 

All  indications  point  to  a  still  greater  material  and  social  uni- 
fication among  men.  Truth,  justice,  wisdom  and  love  are  all  and 
always  spiritual  elements  conductive  to  order  or  harmony.  They 
create  a  kingdom  whose  dominating  rule  of  intercourse  is, 
''whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even 
so  unto  them." 

Isolated  and  fractional  are  the  associations  of  men  where 
these  realizations  have  fixed  themselves  lastingly  in  forms  and 
habits  of  life. 

Hitherto  nearly  all  that  the  most  earnest  and  eloquent  ut- 
terances of  pulpit,  press,  rostrum  and  fellowship  could  do,  has 
been  to  write  upon  the  outspread  tablets  of  human  being  the  pro- 
phetic indications  of  a  xct  to  be.  Now  as  never  before  our  opened 
vision  is  reading  these  heaven-illuminated  lines.  If  neither  pas- 
sion nor  hate,  nor  selfishness  nor  doubt  shall  blur  and  blind  us, 


26  LIFE   AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

ours  shall  be  the  "hg^ht  of  the  just  which  shiueth  niofe  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day."  This  must  be  our  remembrance:  that  the 
strength  and  penetration  of  our  vision  depend  not  so  much  upon 
the  Hght  that  is  around  us,  as  upon  the  Hght  that  is  ivithin  us. 
If  that  be  not  darkened,  we  shall  see  both  the  beginning  and  the 
end,  and  all  the  intermediate  steps  will  be  right  and  sure. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  now,  as  ever,  the  people  are  the 
builders  of  the  nation.  Kings  and  queens,  senates  and  cities,  are 
but  the  extraneous  forms,  the  gilded  drapery  that  clothes  and 
decks  the  internal  and  majestic  form.  Pyramids  may  lift  their 
towering  heads  to  the  sky  and  proclaim  the  name  of  a  moldering 
and  departed  Pharaoh,  Ijut  I£gyi)t  was  made  by  its  toiling  mil- 
lions. Pericles  and  Phidias  may  write  their  names  on  the  grand 
and  lofty  facade  of  a  marble  Parthenon,  but  the  power  and  glory 
of  Greece  found  their  form  and  expression  in  the  bravery  and 
devotion  of  its  people.  Vespasian  may  be  remembered  by  the 
stupendous  ruins  of  a  crumbling  colosseum,  but  its  conception 
was  the  work  of  an  humble  artist,  and  the  patient  persevering 
toil  of  the  faithful  mechanic  reared  on  high  its  ancient  walls. 
And  so  was  it  all  along  the  track  of  the  ages.  Behind  all  heroes, 
and  temples,  and  arches,  and  thrones,  and  crowns,  and  empires, 
have  gathered  the  people,  the  swarming  millions  that  have  made 
them  what  they  are.  The  bewitching  power  of  forms  and  names 
is  no  more  the  talisman  to  move  and  inspire  the  world. 

You,  my  brother ;  you,  my  sister — you  are  the  kingdom. 
When  it  is  prosperous,  you  are  prosperous.  When  it  is  great  and 
honorable,  truthful,  just,  stable  and  pure,  it  will  be  because  those 
grand  and  noble  qualities  are  enthroned  in  your  hearts  and  lives. 
We  are  looking  into  the  future  now,  not  to  see  the  gilded  pagean- 


ON  the:  pacific  coast  since  1853  27 

try  of  a  mock  royalty,  but  for  the  serried  ranks  of  the  noble  and 
patriotic  heroes  whose  strong  and  steady  hands  hold  up  the 
mighty  pillars  of  the  temple  of  liberty.  W'c  jnit  our  ear  to  the 
ground  now,  not  to  listen  to  the  discordant  notes  of  revelry  com- 
ing from  the  gilded  halls  of  wealth  and  dissipation,  but  to  catch 
the  swelling  music  that  echoes  from  the  busy  marts  of  commerce, 
and  the  plying  implements  of  prosperous  toilers,  as  they  build 
cities,  plow  the  billows  of  the  ocean,  beautify  homes  of  content- 
ment, rear  the  halls  of  science  and  knowledge,  and  by  thought, 
and  look,  and  deed,  point  to  the  day  of  plenty  and  joy  that  now 
lives  only  in  the  imaginations  and  hopes  of  man. 

Look  at  the  platforms  of  the  Reformers.  How  far-reaching 
and  grand  in  conception !  How  broad  and  ample  in  plan  and  pur- 
pose! When  the  wisdom  of  each  shall  be  centered  in  one  by 
the  thoughtful  action  of  the  leading  minds  of  all,  history  will 
look  in  vain  for  anything  in  the  form  of  party  literature  more 
elevating  and  inspiring.  Can  faith,  can  hope,  can  desire  go  be- 
yond its  provisions?  Will  it  not  embody  and  hold  forth  all  that 
humanity  in  all  ages  has  expected  or  toiled  for?  Will  it  not  fur- 
nish play,  ample,  dignified  play,  for  all  the  possibilities  of  the 
race?  Bring  on  the  wisdom  of  a  Solomon,  the  zeal  of  a  Paul,  the 
chivalry  of  a  Bayard,  the  eloquence  of  a  Demosthenes,  the  pa- 
triotism of  a  Washington,  and  the  statesmanship  of  a  Lincoln, 
and  here  on  this  broad  and  ample  field  there  will  be  found  room 
and  work  for  each  and  for  all. 


28  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  TIL 
Talk  to  the  San  Jose  Grange  No.  10. 

JW.  HIXES,  of  College  Park,  at  the  meeting  of  the  San  Jose 
•Grange.  Xo.  lo,  in  Odd  Fellows'  Hall, 'read  the  following 
paper,  which  was  greatly  appreciated  by  the  members  of  the 
local  grange. 

There  is  no  page  of  American  history  more  thrilling  and  in- 
structive than  that  of  the  relation  and  work  of  the  varied  mis- 
sionary societies  with  the  different  Indian  tribes  that  have  oc- 
cupied the  Pacific  Coast  since  its  discovery  and  settlement  by  the 
white  inhabitants,  who  now  call  it  their  home.  Centuries  have 
passed  away  since  the  first  brave  and  devoted  Catholic  fathers 
began  their  noble  and  praiseworthy  efforts  to  elevate  and  Chris- 
tianize the  aboriginal  tribes  that  once  extended  along  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean  from  the  Straits  of  Magellan  to  the  ice- 
bound regions  of  the  North.  No  more  heroic  and  sincere  men 
ever  raised  aloft  the  sacred  symbol  of  Calvary's  bloody  tragedy 
than  those  who  wrought  for  the  religious  instruction  and  civili- 
zation of  the  native  inhabitants  of  both  California  and  Oregon. 

I  shall  undoubtedly  give  expression  to  the  enlightened  con- 
viction of  every  thoughtful  person  before  me  at  tliis  hour,  when 
I  say  that  it  will  require  an  historian  of  clear  vision  and  of  un- 
prejudiced mind  to  separate  truth  from  fiction  in  dealing  with  a 
subject  like  this,  so  as  to  mete  out  equal  and  exact  justice  to 
all  concerned,  and  to  transmit  to  future  generations  those  ideals 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  29 

and  hopes  that  Have  been  fashioned  and  inspired  by  the  self-de- 
nying toil  of  the  years  that  have  passed. 

To  my  mind  it  appears  quite  ])lain  that  there  could  scarce- 
ly be  selected  a  more  appropriate  time  in  which  to  give  to  tl'.e 
pages  of  history  a  clear  and  satisfactory  account  of  the  efforts 
that  have  been  made  to  elevate  the  various  and  widely  scattered 
Indian  tribes  who  for  untold  ages  had  inhabited  these  shores, 
and  to  estimate  correctly  their  capacity  for  the  type  of  civiliza- 
tion which  Providence  had  evidently  decreed  must  exist  here  in 
order  to  reveal  and  uphold  LI  is  plans  for  the  ultimate  and  uni- 
versal establishment  of  those  social  and  spiritual  ideals  set  forth 
in  the  Gospel  of  His  Son. 

History  makes  us  acquainted  with  no  portion  of  our  country 
that  has  furnished  a  more  fitting  theater  for  the  revelation  of 
the  various  possibilities  residing  in  the  different  races  of  men 
for  the  effectual  working  out  of  those  difficult  problems  of  hu- 
man life  which  from  time  to  time  appear  in  the  march  of  hu- 
manity to  a  higher  and  a  better  destiny.  Were  I  called  upon  to 
select  two  localities  that  in  the  past  hundred  years  have  furnished 
precedents  of  the  most  reliable  and  instructive  character  in  this 
regard,  I  should  without  hesitation  designate  California  and 
Oregon. 

Xot  only  were  these  the  most  fitting  theaters  of  action,  but 
the  most  capable  and  appropriate  agencies  that  ever  wrought 
amongst  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Pacific  Coast  were  employed; 
I  mean  the  Catholic  church  of  California  and  the  Methodist 
church  of  Oregon.  Before  these  missionary  organizations  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene,  the  dreamy  story  of  the  life  with  more 
or  less  distinctness  and  iiistoric  accuracy,  went  floating  over  the 


30  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

coninuinities  of  the  civilized  world.  These  two  agencies  since 
1840  had,  by  their  presence  and  work,  brought  about  conditions 
that  were  fast  crystalizing  into  imperative  demands,  that  called 
for  a  greater  degree  of  social  and  political  order.  The  odor  of 
the  wigwam  and  the  old  adobe  hovel  had  become  monotonous 
if  not  really  disgusting  in  the  presence  of  a  higher  and  a  better 
civilization. 

In  the  Xorth.  where  the  Methodist  element  predominated, 
and  in  the  south  where  the  Catholic  influence  was  greatly  in  the 
ascendant,  practically  the  same  social  and  religious  problems  ap- 
peared for  solution.  In  both  regions  the  most  enlightened  and 
progressive  leaders  of  the  rapidly  growing  communities  saw 
clearly  that  a  crisis  had  arrived  in  the  history  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  that  called  for  the  establishment  of  a  higher  and  purer 
ideal  of  life  than  had  hitherto  guided  and  controlled  their  re- 
ligious and  political  activities.  Everywhere  the  truth  seemed 
taking  deep  and  permanent  root  in  the  minds  o^all  intelligent 
people  that  it  was  neither  erroneous  nor  profane  to  believe  that 
the  Creator  iiad  larger  and  better  uses  for  this  wonderful  land 
that  had  so  long  been  cumbered  by  a  people  so  ignorant,  de- 
graded and  unimproving.  Their  vision  began  to  take  in  the 
swarming  millions  of  the  old  Orient  where  reside  the  great  his- 
tories of  olden  times  under  the  purer  and  loftier  inspiration  that 
was  fast  thrilling  and  moving  the  Christian  population  of  these 
Western  slopes. 

Let  is  be  remembered  tlial  neither  of  these  agencies  men- 
tioned had  ever  entertained  iIk-  idea  that  ])hysical  force  should 
be  employed  in  the  subjugation  of  any  portion  of  these  Orien- 
tal lands.     liut  this  fact  they  both  saw  clearly,  that  the  Indian 


ON   THE    PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  3 1 

tribes  of  Oregon  and  California  possessed  neither  the  intellectu- 
al nor  moral  fitness  to  perform  the  work  that  needed  to  be  done 
on  those  distant  shores.  The  learned  and  ])ious  men  who  had 
been  guiding  the  unfolding  destinies  of  this  Western  empire  had 
carefully  studied  God's  historic  order  in  leading  the  march  of 
the  ages  upwards  towards  Himself. 

The  present  ever  owed  a  vast  debt  to  the  future,  and  the 
people  who  will  not  pay  that  dcljt  must  perish,  and  a  people 
who  will  must  take  their  place.  It  was  because  the  old  ages  did 
not  attemi)t  to  liquidate  to  the  ages  to  come  the  debt  thev  owed 
that  what  remains  of  them,  burned  to  cinders  and  trampled  into 
ashes,  arc  being  crushed  and  blown  away  by  the  whirlwind 
march  of  the  newer  time  and  better  humanit}-.  Look  at  China. 
She  has  stood  for  over  4000  years.  There  have  lived  in  that 
empire  during  its  history  more  than  five  trillion  of  people.  What 
have  they  done  for  the  upbuilding  of  mankind,  for  the  betterment 
of  the  human  race  ?  What  a  resplendent  opportunity  God  gave 
them.  He  set  them  uj)  in  the  world's  sunrise.  He  gave  them 
ample  time  in  which  to  measure  up  to  the  sublime  attitude  of 
their  abounding  opportunity.  Recklessly  they  cast  it  into  the 
dark  abyss  of  a  bestial,  degraded,  unimproving  life.  Their  de- 
fault to  the  future  blots  them  out  of  that  future  of  which  the>- 
might  have  been  the  masters.  Those  only  of  men  or  nations  mas- 
ter the  future  who  pay  to  that  future  the  debt  they  owe  to  it. 
"The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slowly,  but  they  grind  exceeding 
fine."  The  belts  that  drive  the  grinding  stones  stretch  out  of 
sight,  but  beyond  our  vision  they  are  attached  to  the  great  motor 
of  eternal  right,  and  eternal  law,  and  eternal  power,  and  the 
'"mills"  are  surely  'grinding  them  to  powder.'     The  thing  whicli 


sJ 


2  LIFE   AM)    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 


the  world  at  present  is  striving-  to  learn  is  not  that  they  are  lost, 
but  what  it  is  and  who  it  is  that  is  able  to  save  them.  When 
this  question  is  settled,  and  the  remedy  applied,  a  remnant  will 
be  found  and  will  join  the  ranks  of  the  redeemed  and  will  be 
merged  into  the  grand  army  of  truth  and  righteousness,  who  are 
now  marching  to  the  conquering  of  the  world. 

The  great  danger  to  which  we  arc  now  exposed,  and  the 
cne  that  is  liable  to  waste  both  our  time  and  energies  is  in  mis- 
calculating the  importance  of  the  scattered  remnants  of  those 
Indian  tribes  in  our  future  efforts  for  civil  and  religious  progress. 
The  most  we  can  reasonably  expect  to  do  for  them  now  and 
hereafter  is  to  hold  them  up  true  to  what  they  have  already  at- 
tained, while  together  we  try  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the 
various  landmarks  that  will  tell  to  future  generations  the  story 
of  the  noble  and  heroic  achievements  of  a  bygone  age.  Let  this 
important  work  go  on  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land,  while  we,  as  the  dutiful  children  of  the  departed  strive  to 
lift  to  still  greater  and  more  sublime  heights  the  standard  of  the 
cross,  the  glorious  symbol  of  a  world's  hope.  Let  us  do  this 
not  oiily  in  our  own  country,  where  still  linger,  in  various  forms, 
evidences  of  heroic  achievement  for  the  elevation  of  a  degraded 
humanity;  but  in  other  i)ortions  of  this  beautiful  land  wherever 
hope  and  desire  for  better  and  nobler  things  still  linger  in  the 
aspiring  hearts  of  all  those  who  have  so  long  been  wandering  in 
sadness  and  sorrow. 

Personal  experience  anrl  observation  for  upwards  of  half  a 
century  confirming  the  opinion  that  the  original  purpose  for 
which  these  missionary  efforts  were  at  first  begun  has  been  fully 
accomplished,  and   the  noble  and   Christian  impulses  that  gave 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1 853  33 

them  birth  must  now  and  ever  hereafter  move  on  a  higher  jjlane 
of  thought  and  activit}-.  But  in  this  transition  we  will  do  great 
injustice  both  to  the  faithful  and  the  devoted  toilers  that  have 
done  their  work  and  left  amongst  us  such  indubitable  evidence^ 
of  their  zeal  and  devotion,  if  we  fail  to  impress  upon  the  rising 
generation  the  valuable  lessons  they  are  calculated  to  impart. 

In  the  North  there  appeared  at  first  various  difficulties  of  a 
perplexing  nature  growing  out  of  the  presence  in  the  same  local- 
ity of  associations  of  a  purely  industrial  and  communal  character, 
such  as  the  "American  Northwest  Fur  Company,"  established  by 
John  Jacob  Astor,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  an  English 
organization  occupying  the  vast  territory  north  of  the  Columbia 
river  and  at  present  embracing  three  flourishing  States  of  our 
Union,  besides  one-half  of  Oregon  and  the  vast  region  of  Brit- 
ish Columbia.  At  an  early  day  the  Astor  company  was  crowded 
from  the  field  by  its  more  powerful  neighbor,  after  which,  with 
headquarters  at  \'ancouver,  the  entire  Northwest  was  brought 
under  one  administration,  but  owing  no  allegiance  to  any  civil- 
ized nation  in  the  world. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  a  singular  coincidence  that  in  the 
Northwest  the  two  agencies  before  mentioned  arrived  on  the 
field  of  their  future  toil  at  nearly  the  same  time,  and  without  any 
effort  at  concert  of  action.  In  the  year  1859  three  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries arrived  at  Vancouver,  namely,  F.  N.  Blancher,  A.  De- 
*mero,  and  P.  G.  De  Smet.  These  had  their  headquarters  at 
Vancouver,  and  made  it  their  aim  to  look  after  the  spiritual  in- 
terest of  the  trappers  and  hunters,  who  were  mostly  French 
Canadians,  and  whose  business  it  was  to  gather  furs  and  peltries 
from  Indian  trappers  and  assist  in  their  shipment  to  European 


34  LITE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    IUONEKR 

merchants.  The  same  year  saw  depart  from  the  harbor  of  New 
York  the  greatest  missionary  expedition  that  has  ever  sailed  from 
any  American  port.  P^or  this  purpose  the  Methodist  missionary 
society  chartered  a  vessel  called  the  Lausonni,  loaded  her  with 
adequate  supplies  and  with  thirty-five  missionaries  to  reinforce 
the  half  dozen  already  in  the  field.  Early  in  October,  1839,  she 
swept  out  of  the  harbor  of  New  York  and  turned  her  prow  to- 
wards the  story  headlands  of  the  dreaded  Cape  Horn. 

At  that  time  and  under  tliosc  circumstances  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive  of  a  more  utter  abandonment  of  all  those  social  ties 
and  happv  infiuences  that  cluster  around  an  American  home. 
The  writer  of  this  article  was  then  a  mere  child.  An  elder 
brother  and  his  family  were  among  that  devoted  band.  He  well 
remembers  how,  in  that  soft  October  day,  after  it  was  known 
that  they  had  sailed  away  to  the  dark  and  distant  field  of  re- 
ligious toil,  he  leaned  against  his  mother's  side,  in  the  rural 
home  in  central  Xew  York,  and  listening  to  her  as  she  softly 
told  of  the  holy  mission  on  which  they  were  going,  and  then, 
with  tears  in  her  eyes  but  triumph  in  her  heart,  sung  with  tremu- 
lous voice  Heber's  grand  missionary  hymn, 
"Shall  we  where  saints  are  lighted  by  wisdom  from  on  high. 
Shall  we  to  men  benighted  the  lamp  of  life  deny?" 

Out  of  that  Iiour,  by  the  voice  of  that  mother  in  that  song, 
the  young  heart  of  the  little  boy  felt  the  first  inspiration  that 
fourteen  years  after  carried  him  to  the  same  work  in  the  same 
distant  field. 

But  when  that  field  was  reached  how  changed  were  all  the 
conditions  and  pro.spects  that  had  once  so  thrilled  and  moved 
the  churches  of  the  Eastern  States.     These  native  tribes  that  had 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SIXCIv    1853  35 

swarmed  upon  these  shores,  both  in  Oregon  and  California, 
were  fast  melting  away  and  the  most  casual  observer  could  plain- 
ly see  that  their  days  were  numbered  and  that  nothing  could 
save  them  from  utter  destruction.  Lo,  all  organized  effort  for 
their  salvation  ceased,  and  in  each  State  the  agencies  employed 
readjusted  their  religious  forms  and  are  now  moving  forward 
in  their  respective  fields  to  build  up  and  beautify  the  waste 
places  of  our  spiritual  Zion. 


36  LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF   A    PIONFER 


CHAPTER  IV. 

How  a  Grizzly  Bear  Looks  When  Only  Twenty  Feet  Behind  You. 

'  I  'HE  most  formidable  and  dreaded  animal  that  roams  the 
forests  of  California,  or,  indeed,  of  any  other  land  on  th.? 
face  of  the  earth,  is  the  grizzly  bear.  All  other  wild  animals  will 
flee  from  the  presence  of  man,  unless  driven  into  a  corner,  or 
starved  into  desperation.  But  this  shaggy  monster  roams  the 
forests  far  and  wide,  seeking  the  weak  and  helpless  of  all  classes 
as  legitimate  prey  to  his  insatiable  appetite.  Nothing  is  allowed 
to  escape  from  his  savage  fury  but  those  of  his  own  kind,  or 
unless  possessed  of  a  foot  that  enables  them  to  outstrip  him  in 
pursuit  and  then  his  pent-up  fury  vents  itself  in  savage  growls 
that  are  frightful  to  hear.  Any  one  who  has  ever  encountered 
one  of  these  bloodthirsty  brutes,  especially  when  alone  and  des- 
titute of  deadly  weapons  or  a  friendly  tree  to  climb,  will,  in  all 
probability,  never  live  to  tell  the  sorrowful  tale. 

The  adventure  which  I  am  about  to  relate  actually  happened 
to  myself  while  traveling  the  Humboldt  District  in  1866.  I  had 
been  to  Smith  River  Valley  to  attend  a  quarterly  meeting,  and, 
being  somewhat  anxious  to  hasten  my  return  to  my  home  at 
Eureka,  and  being  able  to  save  at  least  20  miles  travel  by  taking 
a  cut-off  which  led  me  along  the  ocean  beach  I  concluded  to  take 
that  course,  which  led  for  about  6  miles  close  under  a  perpendic- 
ular bluff  of  at  least  one  hundred  feet,  which  made  it  impossible 
to  pass  that  way  only  at  low  tide. 


ON    TIIK    I'ACJFJC    CUASI    bl-NCJE    1853  37 

When  arriving  at  the  beginning  of  this  bluff  i  saw  at  a 
glance  that  I  had  made  a  mistake  in  regard  to  the  incoming  tide 
as  they  were  then  rolling  far  up  towards  the  foot  of  the  bluff. 
Fortunately  J  was  riding  a  horse  accustomed  to  traveling  along 
a  sand  beach,  had  it  not  been  the  case  I  should  probably  have  re- 
traced my  steps  and  deferred  my  journey  to  another  day.  But 
before  I  was  fully  aware  of  the  fact,  I  had  gone  nearly  or  quite 
one-half  of  the  way  over,  and  consequently  to  return  was  as 
difficult  and  quite  as  dangerous  as  to  press  forward.  So,  watch- 
ing with  eagle  vision  every  reflex  of  the  foaming  water,  I  soon 
came  to  the  point  where  the  trail  turned  up  the  bluff,  when, 
looking  over  my  left  shoulder,  I  saw  a  huge  grizzly  not  over 
40  yards  behind  me  and  seemingly  as  badly  frightened  as  myself 
at  the  rushing  and  noise  of  the  incoming  tide.  Apparently  he 
had  but  just  discovered  me,  when  a  huge  breaker  struck  him 
in  the  side  and  sweeping  his  feet  from  under  him  threw  him  over 
upon  his  side,  while  my  horse,  with  better  sense  and  more  experi- 
ence, deliberately  turned  his  heels  to  dashing  billow  and  stood 
firmly  upon  his  feet,  while  the  foam-crested  wave  did  no  harm 
but  the  giving  himself  and  his  rider  a  severe  dousing.  The  crisis 
had  evidently  come,  for  as  soon  as  the  bear  had  struggled  to  his 
feet  he  discovered  me  for  the  first  time  and  without  waiting:  for 
■  a  formal  introduction  showed  plainly  that  a  more  intimate  fa- 
miliarity would  not  be  disagreeable  to  his  feelings.  Just  then 
I  needed  an  extra  moment  of  time  verv  badly  and  I  quickly  con- 
trived a  way  to  gain  it.  In  the  morning  my  landlady  had  pre- 
pared a  nice  lunch  for  my  dinner,  which  she  had  tied  in  a  nai^kin 
and  I  had  hung  it  upon  the  horn  of  my  saddle.  Quick  as  a  fiash, 
I  seized  it  and  tossed  it  over  my  left  shoulder.     It  fell  right  in 


38  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

front  of  the  shaggy  monster,  who.  seizing  it,  shook  it  loose  and 
paused  a  moment  to  swallow  the  precious  morsel.  That  moment 
was  my  salvation,  for  my  horse,  bounding  forward,  took  the 
trail  just  in  front  of  the  pursuing  monster.  The  race  I  knew 
was  now  won,  for  while  my  horse  could  not  ascend  the  hill  in 
any  but  a  diagonal  path,  the  bear  I  knew  could  only  in  a  per- 
pendicular manner.  Hence,  while  every  step  carried  me  safely 
up,  every  leap  carried  the  bear  fatally  down.  In  a  moment  I 
paused  on  the  summit  of  the  bluff,  while  the  disappointed  bear 
was  growling  and  floundering  in  the  bushes  one  hundred  feet 
below.  I  paused  a  moment  to  view  the  ludricrous  situation,  and 
then,  waving  my  hand  in  token  of  victory,  exclaimed,  "Good- 
bye, old  fellow." 

When  I  return,  I  hope  our  relations  may  continue  about 
as  at  present.  I  have  never  passed  over  that  trail  since.  I  wrote 
the  lady  who  put  up  my  lunch  that  it  did  me  more  good  than 
any  meal  I  had  ever  eaten. 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  39 


CHAPTER  V. 
How  I  Lost  and  Found  My  Money. 

YV/HEN  I  so  narrowly  escaped  death  at  the  hands  of  the  two 
''  Indians,  as  related  before,  and  found  myself  safe  and 
secure  at  the  Block  House,  I  sat  down  before  a  blazing  fire  and 
leisurely  took  account  of  stock  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the  exact 
influence  which  the  scenes  of  danger  and  excitement  through 
which  I  had  just  passed  had  made  upon  me.  I  had  evidently 
saved  myself,  my  pony  and  my  two  mules.  But  had  I  lost  any 
thing?  All  at  once  it  burst  upon  my  recollection  that  I  had 
placed  in  the  pocket  of  an  outer  garment  the  sum  of  six  hundred 
dollars  in  gold  coin,  and  I  found  also  that  too  was  all  safe.  And 
I  slept  soundly  that  night.  With  gratitude  to  the  Divine  Power 
and  Goodness  that  had  so  signally  watched  over  and  preserved 
me,  I  at  once  prepared  to  resume  my  journey  homeward,  which 
was  still  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away.  I  began 
to  feel  that  I  would  have  a  story  to  tell  to  the  wife  and  children 
that  were  dearer  to  me  than  life  itself  and  for  whose  comfort 
and  happiness  I  had  cheerfully  braved  all  these  toils  and  dangers. 
The  next  stage  of  my  journey  would  lead  me  over  the  Cala- 
perrah  Mountains  and  down  their  slope  a  distance  of  about 
twenty  miles  to  the  home  of  a  Mr.  Cartwright  with  whom  I  was 
well  acquainted,  and  I  began  to  feel  that  a  few  hours  more  and 
I  would  be  able  to  sit  down  at  my  fireside  and  regale  myself  at 
my  own  table.  So.  with  my  spirits  cheered  by  the  kindness  and 
hospitality  of  the  Cartwright  family,  I  now  felt  strong  enough 


40  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF  A    PIONEER 

to  resume  my  journey,  knowing  that  about  forty  miles  would 
end  my  tiresome  200-mile  trip  and  bring  me  to  the  comforts  of 
my  own  dear  home. 

During  the  night  a  severe  snow  storm  came  up  over  the 
mountains  and  in  the  morning  the  ground  was  covered  with  two 
or  three  inches  of  snow.  So  I  delayed  my  departure  until  about 
noon.  The  ground  being  soft  and  the  road  rough  and  difficult, 
my  progress  was  necessarily  quite  slow  and  I  therefore  con- 
cluded to  give  two  days  to  the  remaining  part  of  my  journey 
which  was  about  forty  miles, 

I  had  gone  about  two  miles  and  had  just  crossed  a  corderoy 
bridge  spanning  a  deep  mountain  stream,  suddenly  calling  to 
mind  the  fact  that  I  was  carrying  about  six  hundred  dollars,  I 
reached  around  to  the  inside  pocket  where  I  had  placed  it,  when 
lo.  every  dollar  of  it  was  gone. 

For  a  few  moments  I  sat  utterly  bewildered  and  stupefied 
at  my  loss,  while  the  past  and  the  future  seemed  to  unite  on  that 
fatal  spot,  and  while  imagination  painted  in  dark  dismal  colors 
the  story  of  the  zcas  hope  and  faith  bore  onward  my  fainting 
soul  and  attempted  to  span  the  dark  cloud  with  a  rainbow  prom- 
ise of  what  would  surely  be.  This  feeling  lasted  but  for  a  few 
moments,  and  then,  taking  a  hasty  glance  at  the  declining  sun 
that  just  then  burst  from  behind  a  dark  cloud  and  wearing  a 
diadem  of  beauty  around  the  v/aving  tree  tops,  hastened  to  its 
setting  behind  the  distant  mountains.  I  was  yet  about  two  miles 
distant  from  the  log  cabin  of  a  kind  friend,  where  I  intended  to 
tarry  for  the  night,  so  hastening  on  I  soon  heard  the  welcome 
greeting.  "Halloo,  old  fellow,  alight  and  come  in  out  of  the 
cold,  and  I  will  care  for  your  animal." 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST    SINCK    1853  4I 

The  evening  soon  passed  in  pleasant  converse  and  I  was 
politely  informed  wiiicli  corner  of  the  cabin  I  was  expected 
to  occupy.  While  all  in  the  room  instinctively  turned  their  backs, 
I  disrobed  and  laid  myself  down  for  the  night. 

Up  to  this  moment  not  a  word  had  passed  my  lips  in  regara 
to  my  loss,  and  I  had  concluded  to  defer  the  matter  until  morning 
before  revealing  the  matter  to  my  friend  and  asking  his  opinion 
and  advice.  In  answer  to  the  greeting  of  mine  host  in  the  morn- 
ing, I  frankly  stated  the  situation,  and  assured  him  that  the  past 
night  had  afforded  me  but  very  little  rest  or  comfort,  and  I  was 
desirous  of  having  his  opinion  and  advice  as  to  the  future.  I 
then  described  to  him  minutely  the  experiences  of  the  previous 
day,  and  especially  the  loss  of  my  money.  I  told  him  how  seem- 
ingly impossible  it  would  be  to  meet  my  obligations  when  I  ar- 
rived at  home,  and  the  probable  loss  of  my  home  for  which  I 
had  been  toiling  for  two  years. 

The  entire  situation  was  fully  canvassed  and  when  we  had 
got  through  he  deliberately  stated  that  while  he  deeply  sympa- 
thized with  me  in  my  loss,  yet  he  could  see  no  probability  what- 
ever of  my  ever  recovering  a  dollar  of  my  money.  I  then  called 
to  his  attention  the  familiar  adage,  so  often  on  the  lips  of 
our  j)reacher,  that  "Man's  extremity  was  God's  opportunity." 
1  then  told  my  friend  that  I  had  always  acted  upon  the  philoso- 
phy that  a  hope  based  upon  a  simple  possibility  was  vastly  better 
than  no  hope  at  all,  and  therefore  I  had  concluded  to  return  and 
make  my  search. 

Leaving  my  mules  to  be  cared  for  by  my  friend  with  a  re- 
quest that  he  would  pray  for  me,  I  was  soon  mounted  upon  my 
pony  and  facing  a  driving  storm  of  snow  and  sleet,  was  thread- 


42  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A   PIONEER 

ing  my  way  back  to  the  foot  of  the  Calepooch.  Just  about  sun- 
down, 1  arrived  at  Brother  Cartwright's  and  by  the  aid  of  a 
warm  sui)j)er  and  a  blazing  fire  was  soon  in  a  talkative  mood. 
They  all  wondered  at  my  sudden  return.  I  soon  made  known 
to  them  the  events"  of  the  past  day.  While  they  all  manifested 
the  utmost  sympathy'  and  sorrow,  all  concurred  in  the  opinion 
that  nothing  but  a  miracle  could  afiford  relief.  Early  in  the 
morning  I  prepared  to  return  to  the  place  where  I  had  left  the 
mules.  The  snow,  that  had  fallen  during  the  night  to  the  depth 
of  2  or  3  inches,  now  began  to  melt  and  the  mud  and  slush  made 
the  traveling  slow  and  tedious.  I  soon  came  to  the  stream  where 
I  had  missed  the  money  the  day  before,  and  was  riding  leisurely 
along  with  my  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground  when  I  saw  just  at 
my  horse's  feet  about  the  one-half  of  a  twenty  dollar  piece  stick- 
ing in  the  mud.  My  heart  gave  a  sudden  bound  and  turning 
quickly  aside  I  was  not  long  in  tying  my  horse  to  the  fence,  and 
then  in  the  space  of  ten  feet  1  picked  up  520  dollars  of  my  lost. 
money.  Two  men,  living  in  a  cabin  about  80  rods  away,  seeing 
a  stranger  thus  employed,  came  down  to  investigate.  I  told 
them  I  iiad  lost  a  little  money  there  the  day  before,  but  withheld 
from  tiiem  the  exact  amount,  stating  that  there  was  a  little  more 
that  I  had  not  yet  found.  They  both  scratched  about  for  a  few- 
minutes,  picking  up  21  dollars  each,  which  they  handed  me. 
With  night  approaching,  I  mounted  my  horse  and  rode  away, 
telling  them  that  I  would  stay  all  night  where  I  had  left  my 
mules,  and  if  they  should  find  the  balance  they  might  leave  it 
with  him.  I  never  received  the  forty  dollars,  and  presume  it 
was  never  found. 

I  was  now  about  40  miles  from  home,  with  two  noble  mules, 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST    SINCE    1853  43 

560  dollars  in  money,  and  the  same  little  pony  that  I  had  ridden 
away  about  two  months  before.  The  anticipated  Rogue  River 
war  soon  broke  out,  the  government  advertised  for  mules  to 
pack  provisions  to  the  army,  and  I  sold  my  mules  for  250  dol- 
lars each  that  had  cost  me  100  dollars  each.  I  had  found  all  but 
40  dollars  of  my  money,  had  an  awful  scare,  a  romantic  ride, 
paid  all  my  debts,  and  had  in  my  pocket  about  300  dollars  in 
gold  coin.  In  all  of  my  experiences  on  the  coast,  I  doubt  if  I 
could  think  of  another  through  which  1  passed  where  so  many 
incidents  harmonized  to  make  that  experience  in  the  final  out- 
come such  a  grand  success.  Romance  never  crowded  into  its 
pages  more  of  the  awe  inspiring  scenes,  more  heroic  attitudes 
in  action,  more  courageous  onsets  in  physical  struggle,  than  the 
two  of  these  times  and  the  two  hundred  miles  of  travel  from 
the  beginning  of  the  struggle  on  Cow  Creek  to  my  triumphant 
arrival  at  my  own  fireside  on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Willam- 
ette River. 


44  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Apostrophe  to  the  Flag. 

Tliou  glorious  banner,  emblem  of  the  free, 
Whose  radiant  beauties  cover  land  and  sea, 
Beneath  thy  starlit  folds  do  millions  bring 
The  gladsome  offerings  of.  another  spring. 
The  gray-haired  father  with  the  mystic  thread 
That  links  the  living  to  the  honored  dead, 
The  noble  matron  who  her  time  employs 
In  forming  patriots  of  her  growing  boys, 
The  bright-eyed  maiden  whose  unfolding  charms 
Await  a  transit  to  her  lover's  arms, 
The  little  urchin  whose  soft  fiaxeii  curls 
In  sportive  glee  the  gentle  breezes  twirls. 
The  rich,  the  poor,  the  humble  and  the  proud, 
May  here  be  gathered  in  one  common  crowd, 
And  lifting  up  to  heaven  the  beaming  eye. 
Swear  with  this  flag  to  live  and  for  it  die. 

The  magic  scarf  the  heavenly  goddess  gave, 
To  float  Ulyssus  o'er  the  boisterous  wave, 
Firm  to  his  breast  the  sacred  gift  he  binds 
And  braves  the  fury  of  the  whistling  winds ; 
To  .strength  divine  his  own  best  efforts  lends 
Anfl  gains  the  shore  where  all  his  trouble  ends. 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  45 

So  shall  it  be  when  threatening  tempests  rise, 
And  danger  gathers  on  our  nation's  skies ; 
When  deepest  gloom  our  fondest  hopes  enshroud, 
And  lightnings  leap  along  the  rifted  cloud. 
When  love  of  country  seems  to  disappear. 
And  patriots'  bosoms  quake  with  inward  fear, 
With  chords  of  love  no  earthly  power  can  part. 
We'll  bind  this  sacred  banner  to  our  heart, 
And  gathering  aid  from  heaven  descended  power, 
Find  a  sure  triumph  in  each  threatening  hour. 


46  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONFFR 


CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Work  of  the  Pioneer. 

AV/HENEVER  a  California  Pioneer  closes  his  work  upon 
'  '  earth  and  passes  into  the  spirit  world,  it  is  almost  abso- 
lutely certain  that  he  will  leave  behind  him  a  record  of  toil  and 
achievement  that  is  worthy  of  remembrance,  and  that  is  needed 
in  order  to  intelligently  account  not  only  for  the  scenes  and 
events  of  the  past,  but  also  for  the  conditions  of  the  present  and 
the  hopes  and  prospects  of  the  future.  We  may  lay  it  down  as 
a  universal  rule  that  if  the  beginning  of  a  people's  history  is 
weak,  tame  and  inefficient,  it  will  inevitably  point  to  a  destiny 
of  doubt,  darkness  and  premature  decay;  while  upon  the  other 
liand,  if  that  history  begins  upon  a  high  and  noble  plane,  it  wiil 
be  almost  sure  to  proceed  along  a  pathway  of  ever  brightening 
beauty,  stability  and  splendor. 

I  am  sure  this  intelligent  audience  will  pardon  me  if  I  re- 
peat at  this  serious  hour  what  I  have  often  said  before,  and  if 
God  .spare  me  will  be  sure  to  repeat  again  with  all  the  sincerity 
and  emphasis  which  words  can  give,  that  the  Pioneer  life  and 
achievements  on  the  Pacific  Coast  stand  far  above  and  beyond 
those  of  any  other  peojjlc  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

I  have  been  a  somewhat  careful  and  diligent  student  of 
history  and  my  mind  has  often  hten  engaged  in  comparing  the 
relative  efficiency  of  different  peoples  in  their  efforts  in  planting 
and  establishing  the  nations  that  have  gone  before  us,  and  I 
have  no  hesitation   in  making  the  ascertion  that  more  has  been 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  47 

done  in  the  last  sixty  years  on  this  Coast  than  has  ever  been  ac- 
compHshed  by  any  other  people  of  whom  history  gives  us  ac- 
count in  the  first  six  hundred  years  of  their  pioneer  life.  Now, 
how  shall  we  account  for  this  astonishing  disparity?  After  mak- 
ing all  due  allowance  for  the  favoring  conditions  of  our  envi- 
ronment, and  the  comparative  weakness  of  the  opposing  obsta- 
cles, we  will  be  forced  to  acknowledge  that  the  most  potent  fac- 
tor in  the  creation  of  so  superior  a  record  can  only  be  found  in 
the  moral,  physical  and  intellectual  traits  of  the  men  and  women 
who  have  occupied  this  field. 

Indulge  me  a  few  moments  while  I  attempt  to  place  before 
your  minds  in  a  more  careful  and  elaborate  manner  some  of  the 
leading  characteristics  of  the  early  settlers  of  California,  who 
laid  so  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  this  great  and  noble 
commonwealth.  And,  first,  they  created  and  have  steadily  up- 
held a  pure  and  lofty  ideal  of  true  American  citizenship. 

It  may  be  said,  and  that  very  truly,  that  such  ideal  was  an 
importation  and  not  a  creation  of  the  Pioneers.  That  the  most 
plastic  and  imi)rossible  period  of  their  life  was  spent  in  other 
States  and  in  other  associations,  where  they  passed  their  early 
days,  and  cultivated  those  social,  moral  and  intellectual  habi- 
tudes that  so  well  fitted  them  for  the  great  and  important  work 
that  awaited  their  coming  anrl  to  which  thev  were  now  provi- 
dentially hastening.  All  this  may  be  conceded,  and  yet  the 
greatest  wonder  and  the  greatest  mystery  of  all  still  remains  un- 
explained. Mow  came  it  to  pass  that  these  Pioneers  possessed 
at  the  beginning  such  a  marvelous  unity  of  thought  and  pur- 
pose, coming,  as  they  did,  from  every  State  of  the  Union,  and 
tanglit  and  trained  in  almost  every  conceivable  school  of  polit- 


48  LIFE    AND    LAI'.ORS   OF    A    PIOXEER 

ical  and  religious  thought?  What  unseen  power,  in  that  su- 
preme hour  seized  upon  their  very  life-being,  and  lifted  them 
into  the  cloudless  region  of  self-forgetfulness  and  patriotic  fer- 
vor? So  they  tread  the  trackless  desert,  and  scaled  the  lofty 
summits  of  the  rugged  mountains,  they  all  sang  the  same  song 
of  freedom  and  shouted  the  same  peans  of  victorious  struggle 
and  achievement. 

But  the  greatest  wonder  and  mystery  still  remains  to  be  ex- 
plained. Where  are  they  now  and  what  is  before  them  ?  Their 
long  and  tedious  journey  is  over.  From  all  parts  of  the  world 
they  have  converged  to  a  common  centre.  Strangers  to  each 
other,  in  a  new  and  untried  environment,  with  no  common  pur- 
pose for  their  future  action,  or  knowledge 'of  the  dangers  or 
trials  that  surrounds  them,  it  seems  next  to  an  impossibility  that 
they  should  escape  from  a  serious  and  fatal  plunge  into  the  deep 
dark  gulf  of  anarchy  and  disorder.  To  say  that  they  did  es- 
cape, that  all  the  temptations  and  allurements  by  which  they 
found  themselves  surrounded  were  quickly  and  effectually  sub- 
ordinated to  the  demands  of  the  grand  and  noble  work  of  build- 
ing and  beautifying  a  new  and  wonderful  scene,  is  but  to  repeat 
a  fact  that  has  already  passed  into  the  current  history  of  our 
common  country.  In  the  short  space  of  fifty  years,  the  experi- 
mental stage, — if,  indeed,  it  ever  existed, — passes  away,  and 
gives  place  to  an  assurance  and  stability  that  seems  to  promise 
a  long  and  brilliant  career  of  civil  and  social  happiness  and 
prosperity. 

And  now  must  the  warmth  of  our  admiration  and  the  fervor 
of  our  eulogy  be  turned  away  from  the  real  source  of  this  mar- 
velous and  unprecedented  achievement?    Shall  we  be  told  that  all 


ON    THF,    PACU'IC    COAST    SIXCK    1853  49 

of  this  wonderful  work  has  come  out  of  the  favoring  natural 
elements  by  which  we  have  been  surrounded?  Let  all  those 
who  make  such  assertions  remember  that  it  is  men  that  makes 
a  state,  and  not  states  that  make  men ;  that  to  sit  down  in  list- 
less inactivity  and  sing  the  praises  of  the  sunlight  and  the  breeze, 
is  to  be  quickly  overtaken  by  premature  decreptitude  and  death. 
Such  were  not  the  Pioneers  of  the  State  of  California.  With 
the  common  frailties  of  human  nature,  we  find  them  as  a  class 
possessed  of  a  clear  vision,  and  a  faith  that  never  falters.  They 
did  not  sit  calmly  down  and  wait  for  somebody  to  come  from 
somewhere  and  help  them  in  their  work.  It  was  a  fleet  runner 
indeed  who  could  overtake  them  in  the  race,  or  reach  the  goal 
of  their  hope  while  they  loitered  upon  the  way. 

Shall  we  be  thought  a  wild,  visionary  partisan  if  we  now 
declare  that  the  almost  immediate  union  of  sentiment  and  fel- 
lowship, united  as  it  was  with  a  kindred  impulse  to  harmonious 
action,  will  be  regarded  by  the  thoughtful  historian  in  the  future 
as  standing,  if  not  in  the  realm  of  the  miraculous,  certainly  quite 
at  the  summit  of  social  and  intellectual  marvels. 

Look  at  the  result.  ''Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or 
figs  of  thistles?"  Not  much,  especially  if  they  have  lived  and 
moved  in  the  social  and  mental  atmosphere  that  usually  per- 
vaded the  Pioneers  of  the  State  of  California.  Nature  seemed 
to  furnish  them  not  only  with  a  unity  of  purpose,  but  a  true 
philosophy  of  action  as  well.  These  in  their  practical  applica- 
tion revealed  an  order  of  sequence  in  the  moral  and  social,  is 
positive  and  as  emphatic,  as  it  was  soon  to  be  in  the  material 
world  around  them.  In  this  respect  they  anticipated  the  science 
of  evolution  in  its  highest  and  purest  forms.     They,  unconscious- 


50  LIl-E    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

1} .  revealed  its  moulding-  and  fashioning  power  in  the  higher  and 
freer  realm  of  social  and  intellectual  life.  Where  they  toiled 
up  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  pausing  to  slake 
their  thirsts  at  the  rip])ling  fountain  at  their  feet,  watching  it  as 
it  sung  its  merry  way  towards  the  western  sea,  or,  it  may  be, 
standing  upon  the  deck  of  a  frail  vessel,  as  it  rode  the  foam- 
crested  billows  of  the  perilous  headlands  of  the  dreaded  Cape 
Horn.  or.  still  worse,  breathed  for  days  the  miasmatic  vapors 
that  bore  to  the  vitals  the  death  dealing  fires  of  the  dreaded 
Panama  fever,  each  and  all  of  them  seemed  to  derive  courage 
and  strength  by  the  dangers  of  the  way,  and  gather  into  their 
eager  souls  a  more  grand  and  noble  purpose. 

But  we  have  brought  them  at  last  by  their  devious  ways  to 
the  chosen  haven  of  their  hopes  and  desires.  And  surely  never 
did  men  and  women  come  into  companionship  with  brighter 
prospect  of  transmitting  to  the  future  an  inheritance  of  nobler 
and  grander  proportions,  to  transmit  to  the  future  generations. 
And  surely  no  men  and  women  ever  lived  who  have  founded  a 
combination  more  in  harmonv  with  the  demands  of  the  natiot* 
and  the  age.  The  ideals  of  social  and  political  life  were  those 
demanded  by  all  lands  where  progressive  humanity  has  ever 
had  an  abiding  dwelling  place.  Motherhood  and  the  home,  child- 
hood and  the  school,  manhood  and  the  Slate,  all  these  have  been 
fostered  and  upheld  by  the  Pioneers  of  Oregon  and  California 
for  the  last  two  generations,  and  are  stronger  to-day  than  ever 
before.  These  are  characteristics  that  have  not  been  imported, 
but  created  by  the  Pioneers.  Importations,  as  a  rule,  have  been 
of  a  different  type  and  different  tendency,  anrl  we  challenge  the 
world  to  successfully  deny  our  statement. 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  5T 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Provisional   Government. 

T"*  HE  subject  of  what  is  known  in  history  as  "The  Provisional 
*"  Government  of  Oregon,"  is  to  be  introduced  here  only  so 
far  as  it  relates  to  the  era  of  the  missionary  organizations,  and 
the  periods  when  the  result^  of  their  presence  and  work  were 
crystalizing  into  social  conditions  that  called  for  civil  and  po- 
litical order,  liefore  this  time  the  dreamy  story  of  the  Indian 
tribes  had  simply  changed  into  the  scarcely  less  dreamy  story 
of  the  fur  traffic,  hardly  more  civilizing  than  was  the  other. 
How  little  there  was  of  anything  that  had  the  fragrance  of  civ- 
ilization rather  than  the  odor  of  the  wigwam  in  it  up  to  the  close 
of  1840  will  be  seen  by  the  following  summary  of  arrivals  of 
American  in  the  country  up  to  that  time.  In  1834  the  four  mem- 
bers of  the  ■\fethodist  Episcopal  Missions  and  six  other  Ameri- 
cans arrived.  In  1835  there  were  none.  In  1836  three  male 
and  two  female  missionaries  of  the  American  Board.  In  1837 
five  male  and  seven  female  missionaries  of  the  Methodist  Board, 
with  three  children  and  three  settlers  reached  the  country.  In 
1838  eight  persons  reinforced  the  Missions  of  the  American 
Board  and  three  white  men  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  came  into 
the  country.  In  1839  four  independent  Protestant  missionaries 
and  eight  settlers  came.  In  1840  thirty-one  adults  and  fourteen 
children  came  to  the  Methodist  Mission,  and  four  independent 
Protestant  missionaries  and  thirteen  settlers,  mostly  Rocky 
Mountain  men  with  Indian  wives,  came  in.     This  made  in  all  86 


52  LIFK    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

adults  connected  with  the  missions  and  twenty-eight  American 
settlers,  a  total  of  114.  Besides  these,  in  1838  and  1839  F.  N. 
Blanchet,  A.  Demors  and  P.  G.  DeSmet,  Jesuit  missionaries,  ar- 
rived. These,  of  course,  added  nothing  to  the  American  settle- 
ment, and  surely  not  to  the  American  sentiment  in  the  country, 
but  rather  the  reverse.  Outside  of  these  there  were  a  small  num- 
ber of  the  superannuated  employes  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
located  at  various  points,  yet  holding  legal  and  social  relations 
to  that  body. 

Civilly  and  politically  there  were  two  sentiments ;  one  Amer- 
ican and  one  British.  Being  largely  in  the  majority  of  the  Amer- 
icans, and  a  chosen  body  of  able  and  educated  men  and  women, 
the  missionaries  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  naturally  and 
necessarily  took  the  lead  in  all  matters  that  looked  towards  the 
establishment  of  any  form  of  government  in  the  country.  The 
missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  namely.  Dr.  Whitman  and 
Messrs.  Spalding  and  Eells  and  Walker  were  so  far  removed 
from  the  center  of  settlement  that  they  had  no  participation  in 
the  movements  that  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Provis- 
ional Government.  There  was  not  a  single  American  resident 
within  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  any  of  their  missions. 

So  situated  they  had  no  opportunity  to  co-operate  with  the 
small  American  community  in  the  Willamette  in  any  movement 
looking  to  the  general  interests  of  Oregon  as  related  to  general 
educational  work,  or  to  the  extension  of  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  Government  over  the  territory.  Of  course  they 
were  in  sentiment  entirely  in  accord  with  the  American  citizens 
of  Oregon,  and  but  for  their  isolation  would  have  heartily  co- 
operated with  them. 


()\  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  sixcE  1853  53 

On  the  other  hand  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  the  retired  ser- 
vants of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  that  company  itself, 
could  always  be  relied  on  to  sustain  the  pretensions  of  Great 
Britain,  and  oppose  the  plans  and  purposes  of  the  American 
population,  led  by  the  Methodist  missionaries.  Thus  it  happened 
at  the  close  of  1840,  that. the  forces  in  array  against  each  other 
for  the  ultimate  possession  of  the  country,  were  on  the  one  side, 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  its  retired  servants,  together 
with  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries.  On  the  other  side  the 
Methodist  Missions  and  the  American  settlers. 

The  stake  was  the  country  itself,  and  whether  it  should  be- 
come American  or  English  was  the  question  at  issue.  The  stake 
was  immeasurable ;  and  the  players  were  so  nearly  equal  in  num- 
ber that  no  man  could  tell  where  the  majority  would  fall  until  the 
day  for  a  final  count  should  come.  Counted  by  numbers  it  was 
the  smallest  force  that  ever  contended  for  an  empire.  Gauged  by 
results  it  was  the  mightiest  conflict  of  the  century.  All  told  there 
were  137  Americans  of  all  ages  and  sexes  in  the  country,  over  90 
of  whom  were  connected  with  the  Protestant  missions. 

Such  men  as  led  the  iVmerican  contingent  in  this  contest  do 
not  slumber  at  their  posts.  Indeed  before  1840  the  first  step 
towards  the  final  one  was  taken  by  the  memorial  gotten  up  by 
the  mission  and  carried  by  Mr.  Jason  Lee  to  Washington.  In 
1839  the  subject  was  again  brought  to  the  attention  of  Congress 
in  a  memorial,  too  important  as  a  part  of  the  missionary  history 
of  the  Northwest  to  be  omitted  here.  It  was  as  follows : 
"To  the  Honorable,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled: 

''Your  petitioners  represent  unto  your  honorable  bodies  that 


54  LIFE    -^^'D    LABORS   OF   A    TIONEER 

thev  are  resident;^  in  the  Oregon  Territory,  and  citizens  of  the 
L'nited  States,  or  persons  desirous  of  becoming  such. 

Thev  lurtlier  represent  unto  your  honorable  bodies  that  they 
have  settled  themselves  in  said  territorv  under  the  belief  that  it 
was  a  portion  of  the  public  domain  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  they  nv!ght  rely  upon  the  government  thereof  for  the  bless- 
ings of  free  institutions,  and  the  protection  of  its  arms. 

Your  petitioners  further  represent  that  they  are  uninformed 
of  any  acts  of  said  government  by  which  its  institutions  are  ex- 
tended to  them ;  in  consequence  whereof  themselves  and  families 
are  exposed  to  be  destroyed  by  the  savages  around  them,  and 
others  that  would  do  them  harm. 

And  your  petitioners  wouUl  further  represent  that  they  have 
no  means  of  protecting  their  lives  and  the  lives  of  their  families 
other  than  self-constituted  tribunals,  originated  and  sustained  by 
an  ill-instructed  public  opinion,  and  the  resort  to  force  and  arms. 

And  your  petitioners  would  further  represent  these  means 
of  safety  to  be  an  insufficient  safeguard  of  life  and  property, 
and  that  the  crimes  of  theft,  murder,  infanticide,  etc.,  are  increas- 
ing among  them  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  your  petitioners  de- 
clare themselves  unable  to  arrest  this  progress  of  crime  and  its 
terrible  consequences  without  the  aid  of  law,  and  tribunals  to 
administer  it. 

Your  petitioners  therefore  pray  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  to  establish  as  soon  as  may  be  a  Territorial  Government 
in  the  Oregon  Territory. 

And  if  other  reasons  than  these  presented  were  needed  to 
induce  your  honorable  bodies  to  grant  the  prayer  of  the  under- 


ox    THE    PACIFIC    COAST   SINCE    1853  55 

signed,  your  jjetitioners.  they  would  be  found  in  the  value  of 
the  territory  to  the  nation  and  the  alarming  circumstances  that 
portend  its  loss. 

Your  petitioners,  in  view  of  these  last  considerations,  would 
represent  that  the  English  government  has  had  a  surveying  party 
on  the  Oregon  coast  for  two  years,  employed  in  making  accurate 
surveys  of  all  its  bays,  rivers  and  harbors,  and  that  recently  the 
said  government  is  said  to  have  made  a  grant  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  of  all  lands  lying  between  the  Columbia  River  and 
Puget  Sound,  and  that  the  said  company  is  actually  exercising 
unequivocal  acts  of  ownership  over  said  lands  and  opening  ex- 
tensive farms  upon  the  same. 

And  your  petitioners  represent  that  these  circumstances,  con- 
nected with  other  acts  of  said  company  to  the  same  effects,  and 
their  declaration  that  the  English  government  owns  and  will  hold, 
as  its  own  soil,  that  portion  of  Oregon  Territory  situated  north 
of  the  Columbia  River,  together  with  the  important  fact  that  the 
said  company  are  cutting  and  sawing  into  lumber  and  shipping  to 
foreign  marts  vast  quantities  of  the  finest  pine  trees  upon  the 
navigable  waters  of  the  Columbia,  have  led  your  petitioners  to 
apprehend  that  the  English  Government  does  intend  at  all  events 
to  hold  that  portion  of  this  territory  lying  north  of  the  Columbia 
River. 

And  your  petitioners  represent  that  the  said  territory  north 
of  the  Columbia  River  is  an  invaluable  possession  to  the  Ameri- 
can Union ;  that  in  and  about  Puget  Sound  are  the  only  harbors 
of  easy  access  and  commodious  and  safe  upon  the  whole  coast  of 
the  territory,  and  that  a  great  part  of  this  said  northern  part  of 
the  territory  is  rich  in  timber  and  valuable  minerals.     For  this 


56  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

and  other  reasons  your  petitioners  pray  that  Congress  will  es- 
tablish its  sovereignty  over  said  territory. 

Your  petitioners  would  further  represent  that  the  country 
south  of  the  Columbia  River  and  north  of  the  Mexican  line,  and 
extending  from  the  Pacific  ocean  120  miles  into  the  interior  is 
of  unequaled  beauty.  Its  mountains,  covered  with  perpetual 
snow,  pouring  into  the  prairies  around  their  bases  transparent 
streams  of  the  purest  water,  the  white  and  black  oak,  pine,  cedar 
and  fir  forests  that  divide  the  prairies  into  sections  convenient 
for  farming  purposes,  the  rich  mines  of  coal  in  its  hills,  and  salt 
springs  in  its  valleys,  its  quarries  of  limestone,  sandstone,  chalk 
and  marble,  the  salmon  of  its  rivers,  and  the  various  blessings  of 
the  delightful  and  healthful  climate,  are  known  to  us  and  im- 
press your  petitioners  with  the  belief  that  this  is  one  of  the  most 
favored  portions  of  the  globe. 

Indeed  the  deserts  of  the  interior  have  their  wealth  of  pas- 
turage, and  their  lakes,  evaporating  in  summer,  leave  in  their 
basins  hundreds  of  bushels  of  the  purest  soda.  Many  other  cir- 
cumstances could  be  named  showing  the  importance  of  this  ter- 
ritory in  a  national,  commercial  and  agricultural  point  of  view. 
And  although  your  petitioners  would  not  undervalue  considera- 
tions of  this  kind,  yet  they  beg  leave  especially  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  Congress  to  their  own  condition  as  an  infant  colony,  with- 
out military  force  or  civil  institutions  to  protect  their  lives  and 
property  and  children,  sanctuaries  and  tombs  from  the  hands 
of  uncivilized  and  merciless  savages  around  them.  We  respect- 
fully ask  for  the  civil  institutions  of  the  American  Republic.  We 
pray  for  the  high  privilege  of  American  citizenship,  the  peaceful 
enjoyment  of  life,  the  right  of  acquiring,  possessing  and  using 


ox    THE    PACII'IC    COAST    SINCE    1853  57 

property,  and  the  unrestrained  pursuit  of  rational  happiness.  And 

your  petitioners  will  ever  pray. 

DAMD  LESLIE. 

And  about  seventy  others. 
The  reader  must  pronounce  this  a  most  remarkable  document. 
David  Leslie  was  at  this  time  pro  tem  Superintendent  of  the 
Methodist  Mission  in  Oregon,  in  the  absence  of  Jason  Lee,  then 
on  his  return  from  the  States  with  the  great  reinforcement  that 
reached  Oregon  June  ist,  1840.  It  certainly  was  fortunate  for 
the  United  States  that  the  church  had  in  her  missionary  work  in 
Oregon  at  that  most  critical  period  of  Oregon  history,  men  who 
were  capable  of  producing  such  documents,  and  at  the  same  time 
brave  and  patriotic  enough  to  take  up  on  the  disputed  soil  the 
cause  of  the  American  possession  of  the  country,  when  that  of 
Great  Britain  was  championed  by  such  a  power  on  the  very 
ground  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  aided  by  all  the  influence 
of  the  Catholic  missions.  It  is  a  most  brilliant  chapter  of  Meth- 
odist history.  While  this  memorial  had  gone  on  to  Congress, 
and  the  people  of  Oregon  were  waiting  for  some  congressional 
action,  the  necessities  of  the  colony  were  growing  more  and  more 
urgent.  Something  in  the  form  of  a  government  seemed  imper- 
atively demanded.  To  meet  the  requirements  of  the  time  a  meet- 
ing of  a  number  of  the  leading  citizens  was  called  at  Champoeg, 
not  far  from  the  ^vlethodist  Mission,  on  the  7th  of  February,  184 1, 
for  consultation  on  the  steps  necessary  to  be  taken  for  the  for- 
mation of  laws  and  the  election  of  officers  to  execute  them.  Rev. 
Jason  Lee  was  called  to  the  chair.  He  advised  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  to  draft  a  constitution  and  by-laws  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  country  south  of  the  Columbia  river,  but  no  def- 


5S  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONFFR 

inite  action  was  had.  Another  meeting  was  held  at  the  Meth- 
odist Mission  on  the  17th  oi  February,  when  nearly  all  the  peo- 
ple of  the  valley  were  present.  Rev.  David  Leslie  was  presi- 
ilent.  and  Caistavus  Hines  and  Sidney  Smith  were  secretaries. 
Though  a  committee  was  appointed  to  formulate  a  system  of 
government  of  which  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  afterwards  Roman 
Catholic  Archbishop  of  Oregon,  was  chairman,  to  report  to  the 
meeting  of  June  nth.  it  was  found  that  Mr.  LUanchelt  had  not 
called  the  committee  together,  and  no  further  action  was  had  in 
the  matter  at  this  time. 

Early  in  the  autumn  the  first  indication  that  the  memorials 
sent  to  Congress  in  1838  and  1839  were  having  any  effect  on 
the  action  of  the  government  relating  to  Oregon  was  received 
in  the  country.  Dr.  Elijah  White,  who  had  formerly  held  the  po- 
sition of  physician  to  the  mission,  but  had  returned  to  the  State, 
arrived  again  in  the  country  holding  a  government  commission 
as  sub- Agent  for  the  Indians  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
people  were  rejoiced  at  even  so  slight  an  evidence  that  the  gov- 
ernment would,  sometime,  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  the  coun- 
try, and,  at  least,  were  encouraged  to  wait  with  confidence.  Grad- 
ually it  became  rather  clear  that  the  American  sentiment  pre- 
dominated over  the  English.  This  induced  the  British  and  Cath- 
olic influence  to  adopt  the  plan  of  forming  a  government  entire- 
ly independent;  national  in  itself;  a  new  power  among  the  world's 
nationalities.  Dr.  McLoughlin  gave  the  weight  of  his  name  and 
influence  to  this  scheme,  carrying  with  him,  of  course,  the  men 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Comjxmy,  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  the  re- 
tired servants  of  the  company.  This  was  a  combination  not  easy 
to  be  overcome.      It  was  the  more  dangerous  because   Dr.   Mc- 


ON    THE    I'ACII-IC    COAST    SINCE    1853  59 

Loughlin  was  a  man  of  larije  business,  much  the  largest  in  the 
country,  and  had  retained  able  attorneys  to  care  for  it,  who  were 
always  ready  to  serve  whatever  he  considered  for  his  interests. 
At  a  public  lyceum  in  Oregon  City,  where  many  of  the  most  in- 
fluential men  of  the  community  were  accustomed  to  meet  to  dis- 
cuss public  questions,  Mr.  L.  W.  Hastings,  as  attorney  for  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  introduced  a  resolution  in  the  following  words: 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  for  the  settlers  of  the  coast 
to  organize  an  independent  government.'' 

At  the  close  of  the  discussion  the  vote  was  taken  and  the 
resolution  was  adopted.  This  was  a  critical  moment  in  the  his- 
tory of  Oregon.  While  this  lyceum  was  not  a  legislative  body, 
it  had  influence  enough  to  determine  the  action  of  the  community 
on  any  question  upon  which  the  people  was  so  evenly  divided 
as  upon  this.  All  the  British  party  were  in  favor  of  this  action, 
because  anything  that  would  prevent  the  United  States  from  as- 
suming jurisdiction  over  the  country  would  only  be  a  way  of 
turning  the  country  over  to  Great  Britain.  This,  doubtless,  was 
the  ultimate  end  sought  by  the  party  that  sustained  the  resolution. 
The  resolution  was  passed,  but  the  man  was  at  hand  who  was 
equal  to  the  emergency.  It  was  Mr.  George  Abernethy,  the  stew- 
ard of  the  Methodist  Mission,  having  charge  of  all  the  temporal 
business  of  the  Mission,  who  was  a  resident  of  Oregon  City.  He 
immediately  shifted  the  issue  l)y  introducing  the  following  reso- 
lution for  discussion  the  following  week : 

"Resolved,  That  if  the  United  States  extends  its  jurisdiction 
over  this  country  during  the  next  four  years  it  will  not  be  ex- 
pedient to  form  an  independent  government." 

A  verv  earnest  debate   followed.      I'oth  sides  were  at  their 


60  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

best.  Both  felt  that  the  action  here  to  be  had  would  determine 
the  course  the  Oregon  community  would  take  in  the  establishment 
of  a  government,  which,  evidently,  could  not  be  much  longer  de- 
layed without  plunging  the  country  into  a  state  of  riotous  an- 
archy. By  a  considerable  majority  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Aber- 
nethy  was  adopted. 

This  resolution,  in  effect,  pledged  the  people  against  an  "In- 
dependent government,"  at  least  for  four  years.  It  also  clearly 
indicated  the  abiding  faith  of  the  American  party  that  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  would  soon  be  extended  over  Oregon.  It 
also  left  the  way  open  for  the  organization  of  such  a  scheme 
of  order  as  the  people  might  adopt  that  would  anticipate  its  own 
supercession  by  the  authority  of  the  United  States  at  some  fu- 
ture date. 

There  v/ere  three  classes  of  opinion  in  the  country  at  this 
time  in  regard  to  the  proper  action  to  be  had.  First,  and  per- 
haps stronger  than  either  of  the  others,  as  it  was  led  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  under  the  guidance  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin  ;  An  Independent  Government.  Second,  a  Pro- 
visional Government  looking  to  the  early  extension  of  the  au- 
thority of  the  United  States  over  the  country.  Third,  a  continu- 
ation of  the  present  condition  until  the  United  States  should  ex- 
tend its  laws  over  Oregon.  The  American  sentiment  was  some- 
what divided  between  the  second  and  third  propositions.  Mr. 
Abernethy's  resolution  had  a  strong  tendency  to  unite  this  senti- 
ment, as  it,  in  conection  with  the  action  on  the  resolution  of  Mr. 
Hastings,  showed  clearly  that  the  majority  of  the  people  were  de- 
cided that  a  government  was  a  necessity.  It  became  at  once, 
therefore,  only  a  question  whether  it  should  be  "Independent"  or 


ox  Tirr-:  PACIFIC  coast  sixck  1853  61 

''Provisional."  The  "Indepenclent"  movement  meant  nothing  ul- 
timately but  British  ownership.  The  "Provisional"  movement 
meant  just  as  certainly  American  ownership.  The  action  that 
must  now  soon  be  had  would  determine  what  tiie  people  of  Ore- 
gon themselves  chose  as  the  relation  of  the  future  State  that  all 
now  saw  was  soon  to  rise  out  of  the  somewhat  chaotic  con- 
dition of  the  country.  What  that  choice  should  be  when  made 
undoubtedly  meant  the  decision  of  the  "Oregon  question."  It  was 
a  pivotal  time ;  and  Mr.  Abernethy's  resolution  was  the  pivot 
on  which  the  future  turned. 

Fearing  that  the  swing  of  opinion  was  against  the  forma- 
tion of  an  "Indei)cndent"  government,  those  who  hail  favored 
that  began  to  fall  in  line  against  any  government  at  all.  The 
reason  is  obvious.  A  Provisional  government  meant  simply  a 
temporary  regulation  which  avowedly  looked  forward  to  the 
speedy  occupancy  of  the  country  by  the  United  States.  This  was 
the  one  thing  that  all  who  favored  an  Independent  government 
were  trying  to  avoid.  That  movement  was  from  the  beginning 
to  end  in  behalf  of  the  British  ownership  of  Oregon  under  the 
guise  of  independency  until  such  a  time  as  the  guise  could  be 
thrown  off  and  the  ownership  proclaimed. 

Events  began  now  rapidly  to  hasten.  Space  does  not  per- 
mit us  to  follow  the  successive  steps  of  the  drama,  only  to  state 
their  outcome.  After  some  important  preliminary  meetings  and 
conferences  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  a  Provisional  govern- 
ment, and  many  counter  movements  on  the  part  of  those  who  had 
adopted  the  shibboleth  of  "Xo  Government,"  a  meeting  v.as 
called  to  be  held  at  Champoeg  on  the  2nd  day  of  May,  1843.  ^^^ 
which  all  understood  that  the  determinative  action     would     be 


62  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

taken.  Pending  this  meeting  "An  address  of  the  Canadian  citi- 
2ens  of  Oregon  to  the  meeting  at  Champoeg,"  was  circulated 
throughout  the  country,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  prevent 
affirmative  action  at  the  meeting  of  May  2nd.  This  "Address" 
was  written  by  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  a  very  astute  Roman  Cath- 
oHc  priest,  who  afterwards  became  Archbishop.  He  was  a  mas- 
ter in  dialectics  in  his  own  tongue,  the  French,  but  was  not  able 
to  perfectlv  Anglicise  his  speech.  It  was  ably  conceived,  though 
expressed  in  imperfect  English.  A  quotation  of  paragraphs  ii 
and  12  will  disclose  the  animus  and  purpose  of  the  entire  address. 
They  are  as  follows : 

"II.  That  we  consider  the  country  free,  at  present  to  all 
nations  till  government  shall  have  decided ;  open  to  every  in- 
dividual wishing  to  settle,  without  distinction  of  origin,  and  with- 
out asking  him  anything,  either  to  become  an  English,  Spanish, 
or  American  citizen. 

12.  So  we,  English  subjects,  proclaim  to  be  free,  as  well  as 
those  who  come  from  France,  California  or  the  United  States, 
or  even  natives  of  this  country  ;  and  we  desire  unison  with  all 
the  respectable  citizens  who  wish  to  settle  in  this  country ;  or  we 
ask  to  be  recognized  as  free  among  ourselves  to  make  such  regu- 
lations as  appear  suitable  to  our  wants,  save  the  general  interest 
of  having  justice  from  all  strangers  who  might  injure  us,  and  that 
our  reasonable  customs  and  pretensitms  Ije  respected." 

Through  the  ambiguous  expressions  of  this  extract  is  shown 
as  clearly  as  any  thing  can  be  shown,  that  the  real  conflict  that 
was  to  be  joined  at  the  meeting  at  Champoeg  was  the  old  one 
of  British  or  American  ownership  of  Oregon,  now  on  the  very 


ON    TllK    I'ACIFIC    CCJAST    SINCE    1853  63 

point  of  coming  to  a  decisive  issue  before  the  people  of  Oregon 
itself. 

It  was  an  intense  moment  when  the  appointed  meeting 
gathered  at  Champoeg  on  the  2nd  day  of  May,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  larger  part  of  the  adult  males  of  the  Oregon  settlement 
were  present  and  ready  for  the  decisive  contest.  Dr.  Ira  L.  Bab- 
cock,  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  was  made  chairman  of  the  meet- 
ing, and  G.  W.  Le  Breton  elected  secretary.  A  committee  of 
twelve,  which  had  been  appointed  at  a  previous  meeting  to  report 
at  this,  made  a  report  which  favored  an  organization.  A  motion 
to  accept  it  was  made,  but  the  Hudson's  Bay  men  and  the  Cath- 
olics under  the  lead  of  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  unanimously  voted 
"No,"  and  the  motion  to  accept  was  lost.  There  was  nuich  con- 
fusion and  some  consternation  at  this  result,  for  it  seemed  that 
all  the  hopes  of  those  who  had  labored  so  earnestly  and  patriot- 
ically in  behalf  of  the  organization  of  a  Provisional  government 
were  to  be  blasted.  Mr.  Blanchet's  forces  were  well  trained,  and 
though  many  of  them  did  not  well  understand  the  English  lan- 
guage, they  could  say  "No"  when  any  motion  was  made  by  one 
on  the  side  of  an  organization,  and  "Yes"  when  the  motion  was 
made  by  one  of  their  own  side.  There  was  hesitation  about 
another  motion  that  would  bring  the  question  to  a  direct  vote. 
In  the  midst  of  the  uncertainty,  a  loyal  mountaineer  stepped  forth 
and  solved  the  uncertainty.  "Joe  Meek,"  an  old  Rocky  ]\Ioun- 
tain  man,  of  tall,  erect  and  commanding  form,  tine  visage,  with 
a  coal-black  eye,  and  the  voice  of  a  stentor,  stepped  out  of  the 
crowd  and  shouted,  "All  in  favor  of  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee and  an  organization,  follow  me."  The  Americans,  with  a 
few  of  the  more  intelligent  and  far  seeing  of  the  Canadians  were 


64  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A   PIONEER 

quickly  in  line  by  his  side.  The  opposition,  led  by  Blanchet, 
filed  more  slowly  "to  the  left."  The  lines  were  carefully  counted. 
Fifty-two  stood  witii  Meek ;  fifty  with  Blanchet ;  so  narrow  w^as 
the  margin  on  this  historic  hour  in  favor  of  the  organization  of 
any  government  at  all. 

If  Joseph  L.  Meek  had  never  performed  any  other  public 
act  worthy  of  mention  the  act  of  this  day  would  alone  have  made 
his  name  historic.  He  was  a  leader  among  the  Rocky  Mountain 
men  who  had  abandoned  the  perilous  and  unsatisfactory  life  of 
the  fur  hunter  for  a  home  under  the  blue  skies  and  on  the 
flowery  prairies  of  the  \Villamette.  These  were,  almost  to  a 
man,  loyal  Americans,  and  in  all  the  questions  that  were  being 
thus  adjudicated  in  Oregon  they  could  be  depended  upon  to 
vote  and  act  for  the  interests  of  the  United  States.  The  moun- 
taineer and  the  missionary  stood  side  by  side  on  this  occasion, 
as,  indeed,  they  did  on  many  another  that  concerned  the  country 
which  they  had  both  chosen  for  their  home. 

The  result  of  the  count  was  received  with  ringing  shouts 
by  the  Americans;  shouts  which  will  "go  ringing  down  the 
grooves  of  time,"  as  marking  an  act  hardly  less  decisive  than 
any  other  one  act  that  illustrates  the  history  of  Oregon.  Prompt- 
ly the  chairman  called  the  meeting  to  order  again,  but  the  de- 
feated party,  under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Blanchet,  silently  and  some- 
what sullenly  withdrew,  leaving  only  those  who  had  voted  in 
the  affirmative  to  conclude  the  business  of  the  day.  This  was 
easily  accomplished,  as  the  meeting  was  now  in  the  hands  of  its 
friends.  It  proceeded  at  once  to  the  organization  of  a  form  of 
g<>vernment,  providing  for  the  election  of  a  supreme  judge, 
with  probate  powers,  a  clerk  of  the  court,  a  sheriff,  three  magis- 


ON    TriE    PACIFIC    COAST    SIXCK    1 853  65 

strates,  three  constables,  a  treasurer,  a  major  and  three  captains. 
It  also  appointed  a  Les^^islative  Committee  of  nine.  These  places 
were  all  filled  by  competent  and  patriotic  men,  as  follows:  A.  E. 
Wilson,  supreme  judge;  G.  W.  Le  Breton,  clerk  of  the  court; 
J.  Meek,  sheriff;  W.  H.  Willson,  treasurer;  and  Messrs.  D. 
Hill.  Robert  Shortess,  Robert  Newell,  Alanson  Beers,  T.  J. 
Hubbard,  W.  H.  Gray,  J.  O'Neil,  R.  Moore  and  William 
Doughtery,  Legislative  Committee. 

This  meeting  adjourned  to  the  5th  day  of  July,  when  it 
was  to  hear  a  report  from  the  Legislative  Committee  on  a  form 
of  organic  law  for  the  nascent  commonwealth. 

It  had  been  fixed  on  the  5th  day  of  July  in  order  that  the 
people  might  gather  on  the  day  preceeding  and  show  their 
American  loyalty  by  a  grand  "Independence  Celebration."  Both 
the  celebration  and  the  meeting  on  the  5th  were  occasions  to 
call  out  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines  delivered 
an  oration  on  the  4th.  and  was  also  the  president  of  the  meet- 
ing on  the  5th.  Quite  a  number  of  those  who  opposed  an  or- 
ganization at  the  preceeding  meeting  were  present  at  this  and 
announced  their  cordial  support  of  the  objects  sought  to  be  ob- 
tained by  the  Americans.  The  Catholic  missionaries  and  the 
members  of  tiie  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  however,  not  only  did 
not  attend,  but  publicly  asserted  that  they  would  not  submit  to 
the  authority  of  any  government  that  might  be  organized.  The 
represenatives  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  even  addressed  .i 
communication  to  the  leaders  of  the  movement,  stating  that  they 
felt  abundantly  able  to  defend  both  themselves  and  their  politi- 
cal rights.     But  neither  opposition  nor  threats  gave  pause  to  the 


66  LIFE    AXD    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

determined  men  who  were  leading  this  movement  for  a  govern- 
ment that  should  be  American. 

With  affairs  in  this  attitude,  Mr.  Hines  announced  that  the 
report  of  the  Legislative  Committee  was  in  order.  It  was  ac- 
cordingly read  by  Mr.  Le  Breton.  It  consisted  of  a  body  of 
what  were  styled  "organic  laws,"  prefaced  by  the  following  pre- 
amble ; 

"We,  the  people  of  Oregon  Territory,  for  the  purpose  of 
mutual  protection,  and  to  secure  peace  and  prosperity  among 
ourselves,  agree  to  adopt  the  following  laws  and  regulations  un- 
til such  time  as  the  United  States  of  America  extend  their  juris- 
diction over  us." 

The  report  of  the  Legislative  Committee,  with  slight  amend- 
ments, was  adopted  by  the  meeting.  The  report  provided  for 
the  election  of  an  "Executive  Committee"  of  three,  and,  on 
ballot  being  taken,  Alanson  Beers,  David  Hill  and  Joseph  Gale 
were  chosen.  The  other  officers  elected  in  Alay  were  continued 
until  the  following  May. 

When  the  primary  meeting  of  the  loyal  citizens  of  Oregon 
adjourned  on  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  July,  1843,  Oregon  had 
passed  into  a  condition  where  every  man  was  a  law  unto  him- 
self into  that  of  an  organized  political  commonwealth. 

This  action  was  bold,  and  might  be  called  revolutionary, 
as  Oregon  was  claimed  alike  by  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States.  As  against  the  claim  of  Great  Britain  it  approached  re- 
bellion. The  people  of  Oregon  had  decided  for  themselves 
where  their  allegiance  lay.  That  decision  did  more  than  any  one 
thing  or  any  dozen  things  else  to  decide  the  "Oregon  Ques- 
tion," and  if  it  is  justifiable  to  claim  for  any  man  or  any  one  fact 


ox    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SIXCE    1853  67 

the  glory  of  "Saving  Oregon"  to  the  United  States,  it  must  lay 
to  the  credit  of  the  men  whose  presence  and  work  in  the  coun- 
try, and  whose  constant  memorializing  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  in  behalf  of  the  country,  and  whose  intense 
Americanism,  always  and  everywhere  displayed,  had  made  the 
organization  of  the  "Provisional  Government"  a  possibility. 

The  government  thus  ordained  was  so  wisely  administered 
that  opposition  gradually  subsided.  Tn  the  autumn  following  an 
immigration  of  not  far  from  100  people  from  the  eastern  states 
entered  the  Willamette  Valley,  and  melted  quietly  and  happily 
away  into  the  body  politic  of  the  embryo  State,  thus  giving  such 
a  vast  preponderance  to  the  American  population  and  sentiment 
.that  even  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Catholic  priests 
saw  that  further  opposition  would  be  useless,  and  began  to  co- 
operate with  the  new  order  of  things.  Some  changes  were  sub- 
sequently made  in  the  "Organic  law."  The  "Executive  Com- 
mittee" of  three  was  found  to  be  cumbersome,  and  provision  wa-; 
made  for  the  election  of  a  governor,  and  at  an  election  in  1845, 
George  Abernethy,  whose  name  has  so  often  and  honorably  ap- 
peared in  this  history,  was  chosen  to  that  important  place. 

To  the  immortal  honor  of  Oregon  it  may  be  recorded  that 
no  country  ever  had  a  greater  proportion  of  men  strong  enough 
and  wise  enough  to  govern  themselves  than  she  had.  This  was 
the  result  of  the  auspices  under  which  the  foundations  of  her 
civilization  were  laid.  Her  pioneers  were  the  Missionaries  of 
the  Cross,  and  no  names  at  this  day  of  1899  are  mentioned  so 
often  by  her  historians  as  the  names  of  the  noble  missionary 
bands  of  tlie  period  beginning  with  Jason  Lee,  first  and  fore- 
most of  them  all,  in  1834. 


68  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

Mr.  Abernethy's  term  of  office  was  in  most  exigent  times 
for  the  new  and  feeble  commonwealth,  but  he  filled  it  in  a  man- 
ner that  reflected  honor  on  himself,  on  the  missionary  service 
from  which  he  graduated  to  the  chair  of  executive  of  the  young 
commonwealth,  and  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  people  who 
had  chosen  him  to  be  the  First  Governor  of  Oregon.  All  ques- 
tions of  the  ownership  of  Oregon  having  been  decided  in  the 
manner  forecast  in  the  organization  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment, and  the  Government  of  the  United  States  having  organized 
her  into  a  Territory  of  the  Union,  on  the  3rd  day  of  March, 
1849.  Governor  George  Abernethy,  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment, passed  over  his  authority  into  the  hands  of  Governor 
Joseph  Lane,  appointed  Territorial  Governor  by  President  Polk, 
and  the  Provisional  was  merged  into  the  National  authority. 

This  change  was  a  change  only  in  form.  The  Provisional 
(jovernment  was  an  American  Government.  California  had  her 
"Bear  Flag."  Texas  had  her  "Lone  Star,"  but  Oregon  never 
marched  under  any  other  banner  than  the  "Stars  and  Stripes." 
From  the  time  Jason  Lee  stepped  over  the  ridge  of  the  contin- 
ent on  the  15th  day  of  June,  1834,  and  began  his  march  to  the 
western  sea,  her  missionaries,  her  immigrants,  her  mountaineers 
forever  sung  to  the  winds  and  waves  of  her  glorious  mountains 
and  her  illimitable  seas 

"The  Star  Spangled  Banner  forever  shall  wave 

O'er  the  Land  of  the  Free  and  the  Home  of  the  Brave." 

True,  he  found,  as  he  stepped  on  the  pebbly  beach  of  the 

mighty  Columbia  at  \'ancouver,  on  the  i6th  day  of  September, 

1834,  a  flag-staff,  and  a   British  flag  flying  at  its  peak,  but  it 

was  marred  by  a  cabalistic   sign,  "H.    B.   C,"  on   its  crimson 


ON    TITIv    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  69 

folds.  It  was  degraded  from  its  national  significance  to  the 
mere  emblem  of  trade  and  barter  and  gain.  The  results  of  his 
work,  and  the  work  of  those  who  accompanied  him  and  of  those 
who  followed  him  have  found  their  glorious  vindication  in  the 
grand  Pacific  Empire  that  they  revealed,  and  then  confirmed 
to  the  Great  Republic.  And  it  is  not  possible  to  evade  the 
historic  conclusion  reached  by  one  of  the  most  paintaking  stu- 
dents of  the  story  of  missionary  work  on  the  Northwest  coast : 
"That  to  the  Methodist  missionaries  and  their  friends  in  Wash- 
ington and  elsewhere  was  due  the  inaugural  movements  towards 
a  Provisional  Government  with  all  that  it  implied."  Its  impli- 
cation and  its  sure  prophecy  was  the  treaty  of  1846,  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  under  which  the  latter 
withdrew  her  flag  from  all  the  territory  of  the  "Old  Oregon," 
and  the  former  lifted  the  "Stars  and  Stripes"  in  unchallenged 
authority  over  what  is  now  the  grandest,  most  resourceful,  most 
patriotic  and  most  promising  of  our  National  Domain.  This 
Empire  of  the  West  faces  the  old  Orient,  and  here  are  the  forces 
that  will  renew  the  great  histories  of  the  olden  times  in  them 
under  the  loftier  inspirations  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  spirit  that  so 
splendidly  dominates  this  "Ultimate  West." 


70  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF    A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Historical  Error  of  Sir  George  Seymour. 

IT  will  be  remembered  by  the  student  of  history  that  in  1579 
*  Sir  Francis  Drake  discovered  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  just 
267  years  before  the  Collingwood,  commanded  by  Sir  George 
Seymour,  sailed  through  the  Golden  Gate.  This  was  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  of  England,  who  had  bestowed  the 
order  of  knighthood  upon  Drake  for  gallant  service  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  great  Armada,  which  occurred  during  her  reign. 
Drake  had  not  only  discovered  the  bay,  but  had  laid  claim  to 
the  entire  country  under  the  name  of  New  Albion,  which  made 
it  by  right  of  discovery  a  part  of  the  British  Empire. 

It  seems,  however,  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  British 
admiral  that  the  conditions  of  international  law  had  never  been 
fulfilled  on  the  part  of  England,  and,  for  that  reason,  if  for  no 
other,  his  hoisting  the  flag  in  1846  would  have  been  of  no  avail 
whatever.  The  right  of  discovery  had  lapsed  67  years  previous 
to  his  arrival. 

An  additional  reason  why  Admiral  Seymour  at  that  par- 
ticular time  desired  to  prevent  the  raising  of  the  American 
flag  at  Sail  I'Vancisco  is  found  in  the  fact  that  what  is  known 
as  the  "C)rcgon  Boundary"  question  was  then  unsettled.  Many 
at  the  present  day  remember  the  electioning  "Slogan,"  54-40  or 
fight,  which  carried  a  quite  ordinary  man  into  the  Presidential 
office  over  one  'jf  the  most  popular  statesmen  our  nation  ever 


ON    THE   PACIFIC    COAST   SINCE    1853  7I 

produced.  England  then  laid  claim  to  all  the  rest  of  the  terri- 
tory north  of  the  Columbia  River,  by  virtue  of  its  occupanc\  by 
the  "Hudson  Bay  Company,"  which  had  its  headquarters  at 
Vancouver,  one  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth  of  that  river.  It 
will  be  noted,  the  Northwest  Fur  Company,  founded  by  John 
Jacob  Astor,  had  been  bought  up  by  the  Hudson  Bay  people, 
who  claimed  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  British  govern- 
ment. If  that  contention  had  made  good,  with  the  same  govern- 
ment floating  its  banner  at  San  Francisco  Bay,  the  United  States 
would  have  been  without  a  harbor  of  any  consequence  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  Thanks  to  the  noble  pioneers  of  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia, we  now  have  them  all  from  Victoria  on  the  north  to  San 
Diego  on  the  south. 

Disappointed  at  San  Francisco,  the  final  struggle  was  trans- 
ferred to  Oregon,  and  other  actors  appeared  upon  the  scene.  The 
peculiar  difficulties  and  embarrassments  that  surrounded  the  peo- 
ple of  California  were  measurably  unknown  in  Oregon,  except- 
ing it  may  be  that  the  same  intense  American  sentiment  dominat- 
ed both  localities.  We  shall  better  maintain  the  continuity  of 
our  historic  narrative  by  centering  the  thoughts  of  our  readers 
upon  a  new  class  of  actors  who  were  working  out  the  same  re- 
sult in  a  different  manner  and  in  quite  a  different  way.  With 
more  of  the  calmness  and  self-poise  than  has  usually  charactej- 
ized  the  citizens  of  our  country,  in  great  emergencies,  and  with 
an  impulse  springing  from  the  most  lofty  ideals  of  personal  re- 
sponsibility, a  few  men  under  discouraging  environments  were 
working  out  social  and  political  problems  that  were  destined  to 
touch  with  vital  force  the  life  of  generations  yet  unborn. 

Being  disappointed   in   his   expectations   of  gaining  a   foot- 


7J  LU'^E    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

ing  in  California,  Sir  George  Seymour,  instead  of  sailing  north, 
where  was  to  bo  found  a  vast  field  and  where  he  might  still  do 
efficient  service  in  promoting  the  general  purpose  of  the  British 
government,  in  a  despondent  and  pettish  mood,  sailed  as  far 
from  it  as  he  well  could,  thus  leaving  the  American  people  of 
the  Pacific  Coast  free  to  work  out  their  destiny  more  in  har- 
mony with  the  sentiment  of  freedom  and  justice.  We  can  scarce- 
Iv  realize  what  the  result  would  have  been  had  the  influence  he 
was  capable  of  exerting  been  added  to  that  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  in  determining  the  relations  of  Oregon  to  the  British 
government.  While  we  might  have  saved  California,  yet  the 
loss  of  all  the  country  north  of  San  Francisco  would  have  been 
reduced  almost  to  a  dead  certainty. 

So  narrow  indeed  was  the  margin  betwen  the  forces  in  the 
field  that  l)ut  a  miracle  could  have  saved  any  part  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  to  the  United  States.  With  emotions  of  love  and  grati- 
tude we  contemplate  the  hand  of  Providence  in  saving  to  our 
nation  so  rich  an  inheritance.  No  intelligent  man  can  contem- 
plate the  wonderful  events  of  the  last  fifty  years  without  finding 
his  faith  in  a  ( iod  of  wisdom  and  truth  marvellously  strengthened. 

[•OI  lA'    OF    .SIR    CEORGE    SEYMOUR. 

Little  did  Sir  George  Seymour,  when  on  his  mission  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  in  tiie  British  warship  "Collingwood,"  realize 
what  an  opportunity  he  mis.sed  to  do  a  signal  service  to  his  coun- 
try, and  at  the  .same  time  to  have  immortalized  his  own  name, 
when,  in  a  pettish  feeling  of  disappointment  at  seeing  the  Amer- 
ican flag  waving  over  Portsmouth  Square  in  San  Francisco  on 
the  7th  of  July,  1846,  instead  of  heading  his  noble  ship  towards 


ON    THK    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCU    1853  73 

the  Sandwich  Islands  he  had  steered  directly  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia  River,  and  joining  his  forces  with  those  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  assisted  in  fixing  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween British  Columbia  and  the  Territory  of  Oregon. 

To  have  cast  into  the  strong,  yet  somewhat  chaotic  elements 
of  British  strength  which  was  centered  at  the  headc|uarters  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  at  Vancouver,  under  the  able  leader- 
ship of  Dr.  McLaughlin,  reinforced  as  he  was  by  the  Catholic 
church  at  that  particular  time,  the  additional  forces  under  the 
command  of  Sir  George  Seymour,  with  a  war  vessel  like  the 
Collingwood  anchored  at  the  Vancouver  wharf,  would  without 
doubt  have  outnumbered  and  overawed  the  American  element  to 
that  extent  as  to  make  their  success  an  utter  impossibility,  and 
the  Columbia  river  must  have  been  the  dividing  line  between 
British  Columbia  and  a  small  but  powerless  community  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Columbia  river.  All  the  Northwest  would  have 
gone  to  Great  Britain,  the  moral,  and  many  of  the  physical  in- 
fluences of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  would  have  been  destroyed 
forever.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  an  empire 
gained  on  such  a  small  margin ;  never  was  an  empire  lost  by  such 
consummate  folly,  ignorance  and  whimsical  pettishness.  When 
Providence  drew  an  obscuring  veil  over  the  face  of  Admiral  Sey- 
mour so  as  to  leave  him  to  wander  away  from  the  Golden  Gate 
to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  little  if  anything  less  was  done  for  hu- 
man civilization  and  hope,  than  when  the  same  hand  drew  aside 
the  obscuring  veil  from  the  eyes  of  Captain  Grey  and  revealed 
to  him  the  broad,  open  channel  of  the  majestic  Columbia.  So 
true  it  is  that  "He  makes  the  wealth  of  man  to  please  Him.'" 

When  the  historian  shall  come  with  a  vision  so  unclouded. 


74  '-Il'K    A\L)    LABORS   OF    A    PIONEER 

and  a  faith  so  pure  and  exalted  as  to  be  able  to  see  the  ever- 
brightening  pathway  that  leads  to  the  millenial  dawn,  we  shall 
see  God  in  history  as  we  have  never  seen  him  before.  The  world 
will  soon  see  that  it  is  not  by  the  hastening  tread  of  marshaled 
legions,  not  b)'  the  thunder  of  cannon,  or  the  charge  of  gleam- 
ing steel,  but  the  persuasive  voice  of  peace,  and  the  uplifting- 
energy  of  Divine  Love  that  reveals  to  the  world  its  hope  and  as- 
surance of  its  ultimate  triumph  over  every  foe.  Not  by  might 
nor  by  power,  but  by  my  spirit  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

Broader  and  more  positive  every  day  reveals  to  us  the  es- 
sential and  ineffaceable  difference  between  the  civic  virtues  in- 
hering in  the  teachings  of  Christianity  and  the  blind  and  erratic 
utterances  of  human  expediency.  All  over  the  broad  earth  the 
wise,  the  thoughtful,  are  reaching  forth  their  hands  to  grasp  and 
to  hold  the  inestimable  treasures  of  a  permanent  and  abiding 
peace  and  joy. 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  75 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Raising  of  the  First  American  Flag  in  Santa  Clara  County, 
and  Incidents  Which  Preceded  and  Followed  that  Event. 

J  TAKE  it  for  granted  that  the  gathering  of  historical  inci- 
dents  and  personal  experiences  connected  with  the  early  set- 
tlement and  development  of  Santa  Clara  County,  is  not  the  only 
purpose  of  this  Association.  No  doubt  you  have  fully  taken 
into  account  the  peculiar  features  of  our  situation,  as  well  as  the 
unique  character  of  our  present  and  past  environment,  and  also 
the  unusual  and  varied  impulses  that  dominated  the  chief  agencies 
that  have  guided  our  steps  thus  far  on  our  course. 

In  California,  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  any  other  State  in 
the  Union,  it  has  been  more  difficult  to  gather  together  communi- 
ties where  a  co-operative  integrity  with  a  unity  of  place  and  pur- 
ipose  could  be  sustained  for  any  considerable  length  of  time.  In 
a  State  with  a  cosmopolitan  population  like  ours,  with  so  many 
untried  and  uncommon  possibilities,  the  experimental  stage  must 
necessarily  be  greatly  varied,  and  in  all  cases  exceedingly  dif- 
ficult and  protracted.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  a  clear  and 
satisfactory  continuity  of  historical  narrative  will  scarcely  be 
maintained  unless  a  correlation  of  time  and  events  are  carefully 
considered. 

I  think  we  may  safely  say  that  a  failure  at  this  point  has  been 
the  chief  cause  of  the  fragmentary  and  unsatisfactory  character 
of  nearly  all  our  historical  publications  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Local 


76  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF   A   PIONEER 

events  of  real  interest,  have  been  deprived  of  much  of  their  im- 
portance hy  being  shorn  of  needed  auxihary  aid,  and  are  thus 
made  to  appear  disjointed  and  bewildering. 

The  historic  setting  that  surrounded  the  ten  days  succeed- 
ing July  yih,  1846,  can  scarcely  be  equaled  by  any  period  of  the 
same  length  of  time  in  all  the  past  history  of  this  nation. 

In  estimating  the  beauty  and  relevancy  of  individual  or  na- 
tional achievement,  we  should  always  seek  the  beginning  from 
the  end  and  not  the  end  from  the  beginning.  Indeed,  by  this 
philosophy  of  historic  narrative,  we  shall  be  quite  sure  to  esti- 
mate correctly  the  characters  of  the  men  who  played  such  a 
prominent  part  in  the  stirring  scenes  of  sixty  years  ago,  ai.d 
whose  marvellous  deeds  it  is  the  work  of  the  historian  to  strive 
to  perpetuate. 

To  simply  mention  such  names  as  Float,  Montgomery,  Re- 
vere, Sutter,  Fallon,  Fremont,  Dupont  and  Stockton,  is  but  to 
immortalize  any  scene  or  any  work  of  which  they  had  formed 
a  part.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Castros,  the  Vallejos,  the 
Pockicoes  and  the  Alvisos  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  Span- 
ish population  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  We  have  no  word  of  re- 
proach for  those  noble  men,  or  of  condemnation  for  the  part 
they  played  in  the  stirring  drama  of  those  eventful  days.  An 
uncontrolable  destiny  seemed  to  have  fixed  their  course  and  de- 
termined their  sphere  of  action,  and  what  they  purposed  and 
what  they  did  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  spirit  and  ten- 
dency of  the  age  in  which  they  lived. 

And  now  let  us  have  clearly  before  our  minds  the  exact  sit- 
uation when  the  brave  Capt.  Thomas  Fallon  quietly  marched 
down  from  yonder  mountains  with  his  little  band  of  refugees, 


ON    TIIK    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  ']'] 

and  boldly  lifted  to  the  soft,  gentle  breezes  of  a  July  morning 
that  most  beautiful  symbol  of  a  nation's  glory.  This  little  band 
of  intelligent  and  heroic  men,  understanding  more  fully  than 
others  the  trend  of  passing  events,  had  quietly  retired  to  the 
Coast  Range  of  mountains,  camping  near  what  is  now  known  as 
Wright's  Station,  where  they  patiently  awaited  events  that  were 
daily  expected  to  occur  in  the  valley  below,  and  where  they  could 
easily  watch  the  movements  of  those  whom  they  knew  to  be  an- 
tagonistic to  their  plans  and  purposes. 

At  that  time  there  were  but  thirty  stars  shining  upon  that 
banner,  now  there  are  forty-six  and  more  close  at  hand.  Then 
there  were  about  thirty  million  inhabitants  living  in  the  United 
States,  now  there  are  eighty-five  million,  while  equally  great 
and  marvellous  has  been  our  advance  in  all  other  departments 
of  national  strength  and  greatness. 

But  now  look  at  the  situation  during  the  six  eventful  days 
between  the  raising  of  the  flag  by  Commodore  Sloat  at  Alon- 
lerey,  and  the  performance  of  the  same  patriotic  work  by  Captain 
Fallon  at  San  Jose.  Sloat  had  quietly  moved  out  of  the  harbor 
of  Mazetlan  with  his  little  fleet  of  three  small  vessels,  and  turn- 
ing their  prows  towards  the  north,  sought  to  conceal  both  the 
place  of  his  destination  and  the  object  of  his  mission.  He  leis- 
urely moved  up  the  coast,  and  in  a  few  brief  hours,  cast  hi^ 
anchor  in  the  broad  open  bay  of  Monterey,  where  he  immediatel\ 
disembarked  a  small  squad  of  his  sturdy  marines.  From  the 
place  of  their  landing  their  vision  could  scan  the  ocean  far  north- 
ward tt)war(!.s  the  Golden  Gate,  but  not  a  sail  appeared  to  break 
the  monotony  of  the  scene,  antl  not  a  sound  but  the  solemn  roar 
cf  the  dashing  billows  of  the  ocean. 


78  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

The  Commodore  was  not  long  in  making  known  the  ob- 
ject of  his  visit,  for  in  a  few  moments  a  flag-staff  consisting  of  a 
castofF  spar  was  firmly  planted  in  the  rocky  soil,  from  the  sum- 
mit of  which  floated  for  the  first  time  in  California  that  beauti- 
ful banner  we  all  love  and  admire. 

Scarcely  had  this  work  been  accomplished  when  the  CoUing- 
wood,  one  of  England's  most  powerful  war-ships,  coming  from 
the  same  Mexican  port,  and  commanded  by  Admiral  Sir  George 
Seymour,  entered  the  harbor  of  Monterey  and  cast  its  anchor 
near  the  flagship  of  Commodore  Sloat.  The  Commodore  was 
not  long  in  gaining  the  deck  of  the  Collingwood,  and  with  the 
utmost  suavity  and  politeness  bade  the  distinguished  Admiral  a 
most  cordial  welcome  and  a  most  pleasant  sojourn  at  Monterey. 

At  this  point  of  their  interview,  in  answer  to  the  greetings 
of  Commodore  Sloat,  Sir  George  unwittingly  revealed  the  sin- 
ister design  of  his  present  attitude,  by  quietly  remarking  "You 
Americans  have  stolen  a  march  on  me,  but  I  guess  it  is  all  right." 
These  few  words,  while  attempting  to  conceal  a  great  disap- 
pointment, gave  expression  to  a  prophecy  that,  in  the  march  of 
events  soon  to  follow  and  even  in  our  day,  has  been  wonderfully 
fulfilled. 

And  now,  see  how  these  events  began  to  develop  themselves 
and  how  rapidly  they  have  moved  in  shaping  the  character  and 
destiny  of  our  State  and  Nation.  While  the  Commodore  was  en- 
deavoring to  entertain  the  British  Admiral  to  the  best  of  his 
ability,  a  foaming  steed  might  have  been  seen  speeding  over  hill 
and  valley,  headed  towards  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  bearing 
a  message  from  Commodore  Sloat  to  Captain  Montgomery,  who, 
with  the  little  sloop  Portsmouth,  was  stationed  at  that  port.    The 


ON    THE    PACIl-IC    COAST    SINCE    1853  79 

message  read  as  follows:  "You  will  immediately  hoist  the  Amer- 
ican flag  at  your  place,  and  also  at  Sonoma."  Lieutenant  J.  W. 
Reveer  was  soon  crossing  the  bay  with  this  order  from  Mont- 
gomery. "Take  down  the  Bear  Flag  and  run  up  in  its  place 
the  Stars  and  Stripes."  Thus  went  down  forever  that  strange 
and  mysterious  symbol,  the  secret  meaning  and  design  of  which 
was  closely  guarded  by  its  author ;  but  having  served  its  purpose, 
could  not  and  did  not  abide.  No  event,  perhaps,  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  State,  has  given  rise  to  more*  romance  and  conjecture, 
than  the  raising  of  the  "Bear  Flag"  at  Sonoma  by  Colonel  Fre- 
mont after  his  return  from  the  wilds  of  Oregon  in  1846.  When 
the  historian  who  is  to  come,  shall  give  to  the  country  a  true 
version  of  this  interesting  transaction  it  will  be  seen  to  have  been 
more  far  reaching  and  decisive  in  its  results  than  almost  an;.- 
other  event  of  those  early  days. 

We  will  now  return  for  a  few  moments  to  our  redoubtable 
English  Admiral  whom  we  left  in  the  harbor  of  Monterey  as  the 
guest  of  Commodore  Sloat.  After  completing  a  few  slight  re- 
pairs to  his  vessel,  he  quietly  weighed  anchor  and  turned  the  prow 
of  the  Collingwood  towards  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  feeling 
quite  certain  that  for  once,  at  least,  that  sly  and  wide-awake 
Yankee  liad  been  left  behind.  A  few  hours'  sail  brought  him  to 
the  Golden  Gate,  entering  which,  he  sailed  quietly  over  the  placid 
waters  of  the  bay,  charmed  by  the  virgin  beauties  of  the  scener\ 
around  him,  and  fondly  anticipating  a  speedy  and  successful 
termination  to  his  anxiety  and  toil.  While  preparing  to  anchor 
his  ship,  for,  as  lie  hoped,  a  long  and  peaceful  rest,  he  happened 
to  turn  his  vision  landward  when  lo!  there,  right  before  his  as- 
tonished  gaze,   appeared   the   seemingly   ubiquitous      Stars     and 


So  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

Stripes  waving  in  majesty  and  triumph,  and  kissed  by  the  gentle 
breezes  of  the  ocean.  The  well-laid  scheme  of  the  Admiral  had 
failed,  the  keen-sighted  Yankee  was  once  more  victorious.  See- 
ing that  the  game  was  now  up,  the  disappointed  Admiral  at  once 
saw  the  futility  of  further  effort.  In  a  few  hours  the  noble  ship 
Collingwood  was  graceful!}-  riding  the  foam-crested  billows  of 
the  mighty  Pacific,  headed  toward  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
disappearing  below  the  distant  horizon  the  last  hope  of  Great 
Britain  to  capture  California  was  lost  forever.  Three  years  be- 
fore she  had  met  with  a  similar  failure  in  Oregon,  the  circum- 
stances attending  which  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  Fre- 
mont, materially  aided  him  in  the  shrewd  and  successful  work 
which  gave  to  the  Union  the  Golden  State  of  California. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1579  the  bold  and  successful 
navagator  Sir  Francis  Drake  had  discovered  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco,  and  after  remaining  there  for  several  months,  gave  it 
the  name  of  New  Albion  and  claimed  the  entire  country  for  the 
sovereign  of  England.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  267  years 
had  passed  away  since  Drake  had  made  this  discovery,  yet  the 
English  had  done  absolutely  nothing  to  make  good  their  claim, 
and  the  country  had  remained  for  all  these  years  in  the  undisput- 
ed possession  of  Spain. 

But  the  eighteenth  century  had  brought  many  wonderful 
changes,  and  no  nation  seemed  more  alert  in  studying  those 
changes  and  availing  herself  of  the  advantages  they  might  offei 
than  did  Great  Britain. 

Every  movement  of  Aclmiral  Seymour  plainly  indicated  that 
he  was  on  the  Pacific  Coast  for  a  specific  purpose,  and  that  such 
purpose  was  antagonistic  to  the  one  which  occupied  the  time  and 


ox    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SIXCE    1853  81 

attention  of  Commodore  Sloat.  Of  this  fact  tlie  raising  of  the 
American  flag  at  Monterey  had  just  given  an  undoubted  evi- 
dence, and  the  revelation  had  just  put  both  parties  on  their  guard, 
and  as  a  natural  consequence,  materially  quickened  the  action  of 
each.  The  Admiral  in  his  reply  to  Sloat,  also,  had  made  it  quite 
plain  that,  in  his  opinion  the  crucial  hour  had  not  yet  arrived, 
but  was  so  near  at  hand  that  time  had  become  an  important  factor 
in  all  his  future  movements. 

California  especially  seemed  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
England  at  this  particular  crisis.  Besides  enabling  her  to  press 
with  greater  hope  of  success  her  claims  in  the  north,  it  would 
serve  as  a  valuable  auxiliary  in  building  up  her  Canadian  pos- 
sessions, and  in  neutralizing  the  expected  benefits  to  flow  to  the 
United  States  from  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 

San  Francisco  Bay  then,  by  virtue  of  Sir  Francis  Drake's 
discovery,  was,  in  the  estimation  of  Admiral  Seymour  the  key 
to  the  present  situation.  To  reach  that  point  before  Sloat,  to 
raise  the  British  flag  where  Drake  had  raised  it  279  years  be- 
fore and  to  revive  that  ancient  claim,  would  place  him  upon  a 
vantage  ground  from  which  no  power  on  earth  would  be  able  to 
dislodge  him.  If  he  failed  in  this  he  well  knew  the  failure  would 
be  ruinous  and  fatal.  And  he  failed,  and  now  the  Admiral's  re- 
cent prophecy.  "I  guess  it  is  all  right,"  is  gloriously  fulfilled  and 
together  we  will  continue  to  sing  to  the  dashing  billows  of  our 
illimitable  seas : 

"The  star  spangled  banner  forever  shall  li'ave. 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 
Then  followed  in  rapid  succession,  the  raising  of  our  flag 
at  Sonoma,  Sacramento,  and  San  Jose,  which  brings  us  to  the 


8 J  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

I3tli  day  of  July,  1846.  and  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Market 
and  Post  streets,  then,  and  until  recently  called  El  Dorado. 
There,  not  far  from  the  place  where  stands  the  present  flag-pole, 
Captain  Fallon,  surrounded  by  about  thirty  brave  companions 
joyfully,  with  shouts  of  triumph,  and  just  as  the  first  rays  of  the 
marching-  sun  shot  their  shimmering  beams  down  from  the  lofty 
summit  where  now  stands  our  noble  observatory,  raised  on  high 
the  first  American  flag  that  ever  fluttered  in  the  gentle  breezes  of 
Santa  Clara  County. 

And  still  the  patriotic  work  went  on.  Five  more  localities 
witnessed  the  same  noble  ceremony,  coming  in  the  following 
order:  San  Juan,  July,  18th;  San  Diego,  July  29th;  Santa  Bar- 
bara, August  4th ;  San  Pedro,  August  6th ;  Los  Angeles,  August 
13th;  San  Fernando,  January  12th,  where  the  final  surrender  was 
made  to  Colonel  John  C.  Fremont,  and  a  territory  larger  than  ten 
Palestines  was  forever  redeemed  from  the  semi-barbarism  of 
Spanish  rule,  and  consecrated  to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  pro- 
gress. 

Thus  was  the  chain  completed  that  now  binds  together  the 
fairest  land  upon  which  the  sun  shines,  with  the  most  glorious 
destiny  that  humanity  can  know.     And  now, 

IVith  chords  of  love  no  earthly  power  can  part, 
We'll  bind  this  sacred  banner  to  our  heart, 
And  gathering  strength  from  heaven-descended  power, 
find  a  sure  triumph  in  each  threatening  hour. 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1 853  83 


CHAPTER  XL 

Memorial  Poem  Recited  at  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

Freedom !  thou  sweetest  word  in  human  tongue, 
Of  thee  have  sages  thought  and  poets  sung, 
In  all  the  ranks  of  busy  human  kind 
This  word,  suggestive,  thrills  the  sentient  mind, 
Sweeps  the  dark  clouds  of  gloomy  night  away, 
And  brings  before  us  joy-inspiring  day ; 
Falls  like  sweet  music  on  the  ravished  ear, 
And  stills  the  heart  that  palpitates  with  fear. 
Lifts  up  the  head  so  long  by  sorrow  bound 
And  spreads  the  bow  of  promise  on  the  cloud. 

Ye  heavenly  Powers!  while  I  begin  my  song. 
Inspire  my  soul,  and  bear  the  strain  along. 
Bring  to  my  aid  the  patriot's  holy  fires. 
That  glowed  so  brightly  in  departed  sires. 
Bid  them  survey  us  from  the  bending  sky. 
And  tell  us  how  to  live  and  how  to  die. 

Is  there  a  heart  so  dead  to  purest  bliss. 

As  not  to  glory  in  a  land  like  this. 

Whose  mind  debauched  by  treason's  deadly  blight, 

Would  sink  its  glories  in  eternal  night? 

Avant !  ignoble  one,  and  let  they  name 


84  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

Perish  forever  from  the  roll  of  fame, 
Turn  from  the  place  where  noble  patriots  stood, 
And  leave  your  country  for  your  country's  good. 
But  let  the  pure  these  hallowed  hours  employ 
To  swell  the  anthem  of  a  nation's  joy. 

Thou  glorious  banner !  emblem  of  the  free. 
Whose  radiant  beauties  cover  land  and  sea, 
Beneath  thy  star-lit  folds  do  millions  bring 
The  gladsome  offerings  of  another  spring ; 
The  grey-haired  father  with  the  mystic  thread 
That  links  the  living  with  the  honored  dead, 
The  sober  matron  who  her  time  employs 
In  forming  patriots  of  her  growing  boys, 
The  bright-eyed  maiden  whose  unfolding  charms 
Await  a  transit  to  her  lover's  arms, 
The  little  urchin,  whose  soft,  flaxen  curls 
In  sportive  glee  the  gentle  breeze  twirls. 
The  rich,  the  poor,  the  humble  and  the  proud 
May  here  be  gathered  in  one  common  crowd ; 
And  lifting  up  to  heaven  the  beaming  eye 
Swear  with  this  flag  to  live  and  for  it  die. 

No  other  standard  shall  our  homage  claim, 
No  other  color,  whatsoer'er  its  name, 
In  beauteous  contrasts,  red  white,  and  blue. 
Is  the  proud  banner  which  our  fathers  made; 
And  not  one  star  shall  ever  from  it  fade. 
While  floating  now  in  freedom's  bold  crusade. 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  85 

Not  half  so  quick  the  forked  Hghtning  flies, 
On  murky  cloud  along  the  bending  skies, 
As  our  just  wrath  to  smite  with  instant  death 
Who  breathes  upon  it  but  one  hostile  breath. 
Is  there  a  land  beneath  the  circling  sun. 
Where  mountain  rears  its  head  or  rivers  run. 
That  can,  Columbia,  ever  equal  thee. 
Whose  verdant  beauties  spread  from  sea  to  sea? 
On  thy  broad  bosom  nations  come  to  rest, 
And  throng  the  valleys  of  our  peerless  west, 
The  bleeding  victims  of  oppression's  wiles, 
Hear  of  thy  blessings  with  a  thousand  smiles, 
While  He  who  rules  the  heavenly  powers  above 
Looks  down  and  blesses  with  a  Father's  love. 

How  must  their  spirits  feel  the  lambient  flame 
Of  brightening  hope,  at  mention  of  thy  name, 
Else  never  could  these  swarming  millions  brave 
Such  sundered  ties,  and  oceans  swelling  wave, 
They  drop  the  tear,  and  heave  the  sorrowing  sigh, 
O'er  the  dear  spot  where  friends  departed  lie, 
Sadly  they  breathe  the  tender  word,  adieu. 
To  all  the  scenes  their  early  childhood  knew ; 
Gazing,  they  stand  and  view  the  less'ning  shore, 
Whose  hills  and  vallies  they  shall  see  no  more. 
Silent  they  stand  resolve  to  fix  in  mind 
Those  joys  and  friendships  they  have  left  behind. 

As  beauteous  Dido  plied  her  winsome  art, 


86  LIFE    AND   LABORS   OF    A    PIONEER 

To  fix  tlie  flame  of  love  in  Eanea's  heart, 
To  stay  his  steps  and  give  his  wandering  o'er, 
And  brave  the  ocean  and  the  wars  no  more, 
But  find  at  one  in  Carthage's  pleasing  scene 
A  rising  kingdom  and  a  lovely  queen. 

So  does  our  goddess  kindly  spread  her  arms, 
And  bid  the  nations  view  her  radiant  charms. 
Speaks  sweetly  to  them  from  her  loving  heart, 
And  soothes  their  sorrows  by  her  gentle  art. 
Spreads  her  broad  ages  in  the  needful  hour, 
And  awes  the  tryrant  by  her  dreadful  power. 
But  bids  the  oppressed  enjoy  her  fruitful  soil, 
And  spread  her  glory  by  their  willing  toil. 

Dark  is  the  soul,  and  void  of  truth  and  right. 

Unworthy  happiness,  unworthy  light. 

Unfit  for  public  trust,  for  private  care, 

A  wretch,  a  monster,  who  would  thee  forswear. 

Or  with  a  cruel  hand  would  wish  to  rend 

The  beauteous  garments  of  so  kind  a  friend. 

Here  let  us  pause  and  carefully  relate 
What  makes  a  nation  truly  wise  and  great. 
Do  towering  monuments  that  ])icrce  the  sky, 
O'er  the  proud  dust  where  l)uriccl  heroes  lie? 
Do  cities  fair  with  gorgeous  temples  crowned. 
Or  busy  commerce  with  its  murmuring  sounds. 
Is  it  the  train  that  thunders  through  the  land 


ON   THE    PACIFIC    COAST   SIXCE    1853  8/ 

To  bear  our  products  to  some  distant  strand? 
Or  the  tamed  lightning  darting  o'er  the  wire, 
To  bear  our  message  on  its  wings  of  fire? 
No:  these  may  flourish  with  exulting  pride, 
Where  virtue,  lienor,  trutli  and  right  have  died. 

'Tis  men  wc  need,  men  of  a  noble  mould, 
Who  scorn  to  barter  principle  for  gold. 
Constant  to  keep  a  noble  end  in  view, 
And  with  unfaltering  step  that  end  pursue. 
Who  seek  through  all  the  fleeting  days  of  life 
To  turn  the  thoughtless  from  the  paths  of  strife, 
Who  scorn  the  seeds  of  party  hate  to  sow. 
From  which  a  crop  of  bloody  deeds  may  grow, 
Who  call  no  virtue  by  a  fancied  name, 
And  then  betray  her  to  a  lasting  shame. 
Who  passion  crush,  however  strong  or  dear. 
And  for  no  loss  of  evil  shed  a  tear, 
Who  loathes  the  man  who  holds  the  evil  creed, 
"Bleed  not  for  country  but  your  country  bleed." 

Say,  trembling  statesman,  can  )e  do  no  more 
Than  fearful  paltry  souls  have  done  before, 
But  while  prophetic  clusters  fill  the  hand 
Halt  on  the  borders  of  the  promised  land? 
Learn  this,  while  sailing  o'er  a  troubled  sea, 
The  wise  possess  a  chart  unknown  to  thee, 
They  hold  no  parley  with  unmanly  fear. 
But  boldlv  b\  the  light  of  truth  thev  stear. 


88  LIFE  Axn  r.AnoRS  of  a  pioneer 

Knowing;  a  prattling;  child  who  holds  the  right 

W"\\\  crush  an  emperor  tho'  clothed  with  might, 

That  none  who  kindle  passion's  deadly  hate, 

Can  ever  make  a  nation  truly  great, 

But  he  who  bears  the  wonder-working  rod, 

In  strict  obedience  to  the  voice  of  God, 

Shall  face  with  steadfast  heart  at  duty's  call. 

Ten  thousand  dangers  and  surmount  them  all. 

Such  were  the  men  who  on  New  England's  shore 

Planted  their  standard  in  the  days  of  yore. 

They  scorned  the  fiery  bolt  by  tyrants  hurled. 

And  breathed  new  power  into  a  sinking  world. 

Who  dared  to  think  and  act  on  nature's  plan, 

And  grant  her  born  to  each  aspiring  man. 

Said  to  the  waves  that  be^t  the  trembling  soul, 

"Thus  far,  no  farther,  shall  thy  waters  roll." 

But  here  whole  sombre  forests  nod  the  head 

O'er  paths  by  savages  for  ages  tread, 

Where  untamed  beasts  from  gloomy  thickets  sprang, 

Or  serpents  coiled  to  dart  the  deadly  fang, 

Where  birds  and  insects  bright  with  various  hue 

In  sportive  glee,  or  fatal  fury,  flew. 

Here  in  the  name  of  freedom  we  will  stand. 

Turning  forever  from  our  native  land. 

And  while  to  heaven  we  raise  our  fervent  call. 

Build  up  an  empire  that  shall  never  fall. 

Nobly  they  stood  with  calm  and  steadfast  mind. 

Neither  to  rea.son  nor  to  con.science  blind, 

A  holy  impulse  all  their  bosoms  fired, 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  89 

And  history  speaking  o'er  the  lapse  of  time, 

Has  made  their  memory  and  their  deeds  sublime. 

With  newborn  zeal  we  votive  offerings  bring, 
And  names  immortal  here  attempt  to  sing. 
We  hail  with  joy  our  country's  bright'ning  morn. 
And  turn  from  empires  and  from  kings  with  scorn, 
Now,  while  our  radiant  flag  is  here  unfurled. 
Proclaim  our  doctrine  to  a  list'ning  world, 
And  charge  our  minds  at  each  inquiring  turn. 
To  hold  the  truths  that  others  seek  to  learn. 

Yes :  there  are  men  whom  liberty  can  trust, 

To  guard  her  banner  from  despoiling  dust. 

Whose  souls  united  to  the  sons  of  worth, 

Will  speak,  enraptured,  of  her  noble  birth. 

Sing  of  her  beauteous  life  in  Eden's  bowers. 

When  man  unfallen,  passed  his  joyous  hours. 

Tell  how  in  classic  Greece  her  footsteps  strayed 

To  claim  asylum  in  Arcadian  shade* 

Then  how  her  form  on  restless  pinions  flies. 

To  scan  the  beauty  of  Italias  skies. 

And  mourn  the  while  that  man  should  care  to  know 

Her  name,  her  spirit,  and  her  work  below : 

But  see!  once  more  we  view  her  radiant  face, 
Cheering  the  nations  with  its  winning  grace, 
Smiling  where  Gesler  feels  the  wrath  of  Tell. 
And  weeping  when  a  Kosciusko  fell ; 


9©  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

Bold  Cromwell  cheers  with  vengeance  in  his  eye. 
But  sighed  to  see  a  noble  Hampden  die, 
Inspired  the  Pilgrims  when  the  Mayflower  bore 
Her  gathered  treasures  to  a  distant  shore. 

Here  now  I  rest,  and  fold  my  weary  wings, 
And  turn,  rejected,  from  the  courts  of  kings, 
And  here  for  ages  will  I  fix  my  seat. 
While  gathering  millions  shall  my  image  greet ; 
I'll  here  inspire  the  orator  and  sage, 
To  spread  their  wisdom  on  the  classic  page, 
The  warrior's  soul  shall  feel  my  secret  power 
And  stand  undaunted  in  the  dangerous  hour. 
The  fettered  slave  shall   feel  my  sudden  stroke, 
And  from  his  neck  shall  fall  the  galling  yoke, 
And  beauteous  woman,  guided  by  my  wand. 
Shall  be  enfranchised  through  this  favored  land. 
Like  yon  bright  pillar  raised  at  heaven's  command, 
To  guide  His  people  o'er  a  deserted  land, 
In  lonely  wilds  it  shed  its  hallowed  light, 
And  blazed  its  glory  on  the  gloom  of  night. 
Guiding  the  wandering  in  his  weary  way. 
And  gave  to  midnight  all  the  light  of  day. 
So  shall  my  radiance,  heavenly  and  divine. 
On  you  who  love  me  never  cease  to  shine. 

Shall  we  not  sing  at  each  returning  year. 
Those  names  to  freedom  and  to  country  dear. 
Shall  we  not  tell  the  mighty  deeds  they  wrought, 


ON  the;  pacific  coast  since  1853  91 

The  words  they  uttered  and  the  battles  fought  ? 

How  firm  they  stood  in  danger's  trying  hour, 

To  stem  the  tide  of  treason's  threatening  power. 

Shall  freedom's  altar,  reared  at  such  a  cost, 

To  future  ages  be  forever  lost, 

Shall  we  consent  in  doubting  fear  to  stand. 

And  let  dread  Anarch  rule  this  lovelv  land? 

No,  never,  never,  will  we  cease  to  be 

True  to  those  men  who  made  our  country  free. 

In  all  the  forms  that  joy  has  been  expressed. 

With  all  the  hope  that  kindles  in  the  breast. 

With  all  the  zeal  that  human  bosom  fires, 

With  all  the  faith  that  heavenly  love  inspires, 

We'll  march,  and  weep,  and  talk,  and  sing  and  pray, 

Through  all  the  hours  of  this  memorial  day. 

Not  like  the  matrons  in  Eneas  train. 

Wearied  with  toil  and  dangers  of  the  main, 

In  wanton  haste,  by  adverse  gods  inspired. 

With  impious  hands  tiieir  anchored  vessel  fired, 

And  sought  to  end  in  the  devouring  flame, 

Rome's  future  empire  and  the  Trojan  name; 

We  swear  no  human  hands,  however  great, 

Shall  bear  the  torch  to  fire  our  Ship  of  State. 

If  to  that  work  one  step  they  dare  to  go. 

That  step  shall  make  those  men  our  mortal  foe  : 

No  mountain  heights,  or  forest's  rocky  dell. 

No  cave,  though  deeper  than  the  depths  of  hell, 

Shall  be  a  refuge  from  the  awakened  wrath. 


92  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF    A    riONFER 

That  sweeps  with  fury  on  the  traitors'  path, 
And  pauses  not,  till  their  false  bosoms  feel 
The  fatal  power  of  our  avenging  steel. 

Our  humble  lyre  must  strike  its  mournful  strains, 

To  tell  the  glory  of  two  noble  names, 

And  wait  the  bard  with  a  diviner  flame 

To  sing  more  sweetly  of  their  deathless  fame. 

Thou  sainted  Lincoln !  whose  untimely  end 

Bereft  a  nation  of  its  dearest  friend, 

To  imitate  thy  virtues  shall  engage 

The  toiling  patriot  of  each  coming  age. 

From  thee  they  learn  to  love  their  country's  laws, 

And  die  with  ])leasure  in  her  sacred  cause ; 

Xo  sting  of  envy  thy  pure  soul  possessed. 

No  vengeful  feelings  burned  within  thy  breast, 

From  chilling  prejudice  thy  mind  was  free, 

And  suffering  bondmen  found  a  friend  in  thee ; 

No  sordid  end  pursued,  ])iil  firmly  stood. 

For  truth,  and  labored  for  the  people's  good. 

While  slumbering  now  among  the  silent  dead, 

A  martyr's  crown  adorns  thy  sainted  dead. 

And  while  we  cherish  what  thy  brave  deeds  won, 

We  write  thy  name  next  to  our  Washington. 

That  other  scene,  we  view  with  tearful  eyes. 
Where  noble,  generous,  jjious  C^arfield  dies. 
How  grand  his  speech,  how  lofty  every  deed! 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  93 

Yet  for  that  greatness  he  is  doomed  to  bleed, 
When  his  pure  life  admiring  men  behold, 
In  conscious  virtue  theirs  are  firm  and  bold. 
And  view  with  pride  the  path  his  footsteps  trod, 
Who  loved  the  people,  while  he  loved  his  God. 

Like  Carmel's  seer  who  in  his  deathless  flight 
Looked  down  with  blessing  on  a  world  of  might. 
And  ere  his  fiery  steeds  their  course  began, 
Cast  gently  down  one  sacred  gift  to  man  ; 
So  from  his  shoulders,  as  he  soars  above, 
He  drops  the  mantle  of  a  patriot's  love. 
Go  freedom's  martyrs!  heaven  does  thus  ordain 
To  rend  our  bosoms  with  severest  pain, 
'Tis  thine  to  tread  the  flowery  fields  of  bliss, 
While  we  must  struggle  in  a  world  like  this. 
But  while  thy  vision  sweeps  from  star  to  star, 
Smile  sweetly  on  us  from  thy  home  afar. 
And  as  in  heaven  tiiy  spirits  sing  and  shine, 
Forever  hover  o'er  thy  country's  shrine. 

Rome  wept  with  grief  when  Cato's  body  passed, 

And  cried,  alas !  this  patriot  is  our  last. 

Not  so  are  we ;  when  to  the  grave  we  give 

Our  buried  heros,  others  with  us  live. 

Ah  never  shall  our  tongues  forget  to  tell 

Of  how  they  fought  and  how  their  comrades  fell. 

Of  how  they  stood  at  evening's  fading  light. 

And  watched  for  freedom  through  the  gloom  of  night, 

In  fruitful  fields,  where  smiling  verdure  erew, 


94  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

They  lift  the  stains  that  nature  never  knew, 
They  flecked  the  hill-side  with  their  gushing  blood, 
And  stained  the  current  of  the  river's  flood, 
To  wounded,  dying  brothers  oft  they  came, 
To  take  love's  tokens,  or  to  learn  their  name ; 
Oft  on  a  bosom  cold  and  void  of  life 
They  found  the  picture  of  a  loving  wife, 
Or  one  from  whom  he  tore  himself  away, 
Before  the  pleasures  of  the  bridal  day, 
Or  catch  the  fleeting  message  e'er  he  dies, 
And  close  in  death  a  fallen  comrade's  eyes. 

Where  now  had  been  this  banner  and  this  day. 
Had  they  betrayed  us  in  that  bloody  fray. 
Had  they  but  faltered  in  that  trying  hour. 
And  gave  our  country  to  the  traitor's  power, 
Had  they  complained  and  halted  on  the  way. 
Because,  perchance,  they  failed  to  get  their  pay, 
They  proved  'tis  nobler,  let  it  now  be  told. 
To  die  for  freedom  than  to  live  for  gold. 
Ten  thousand  blessings  on  their  noble  head. 
Ten  thousand  flowers  along  their  i)athway  spread, 
And  may  they  ever  feel  and  ever  know 
The  sweetest  pleasures  in  their  life  below. 
And  may  at  last  a  Saviour's  deathless  love 
Proclaim  them  welcome  to  a  home  above. 

We  come  not  here  to  strike  our  lyre  to  kings, 
No  servile  flattery  from  us  on  its  strings, 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCK    1853  95 

No  slavish  chords  sliall  bind  our  souls  with  fear, 

But  truth's  sweet  music  charm  the  list'ning  ear. 

He  that  too  much  his  own  perfections  see 

Will  see  too  much  the  faults  of  you  and  me. 

We  should  be  calm  and  moderate  in  our  view 

And  not  with  malice  any  thing  pursue. 

With  equal  scales  to  balance  others'  rights, 

Nor  blame  at  morning  what  we  praise  at  night. 

Not  curse  old  Shylock's  every  passing  hour, 

Then  do  him  honor  by  our  lust  of  power. 

Since  heavenly  wisdom  in  this  world  ordains 

That  freedom  follows  after  galling  chains, 

That  he  who  views  the  distant  landscape  bright 

Must  toil  to  reach  the  mountain's  dizzy  height, 

That  ere  the  calm  of  sacred  peace  is  ours, 

We  feel  the  fearful  shock  of  hostile  powers, 

And  sweetest  flowers  of  sacred  memory  grow 

Along  the  banks  where  crimson  currents  flow ; 

Who  plants  the  tree  must  wait  the  circling  years 

Before  the  flower  and  golden  fruit  appears. 

The  man  or  nation  who  true  greatness  knows 

Must  plant  the  seeds  from  whence  that  greatness  grows. 

Fair  pleasure's  train   is  love,   faith,  hope  and  joy. 

None  but  ourselves  can  this  fair  train  destroy, 

If  in  our  lantl  true  justice  we  invade 

And  dim  its  brightness  by  obscuring  shade, 

If  unjust  laws  instruct  at  every  turn 

Shall  we  complain  because  the  people  learn? 

Can  w^e  demur,  when  stagnant  pools  we  bare. 


96  LIFE   AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

If  ghastly  death  rides  on  the  tainted  air? 
Or  when  our  statutes  false  distinctions  draw 
To  tangle  justice  in  a  web  of  law? 
We  strike  with  vengeance  "till  the  fight  is  won, 
The  creed,  that  many  here  must  toil  for  one, 
That  makes  of  God  an  engine  here  below, 
To  play  man's  fury  on  some  hated  foe. 
If  public,  and  not  private  good  shall  stand, 
Justice  and  truth  must  rule  through  all  the  land. 
He  who  would  seek  to  thwart  so  great  an  end 
Can  look  to  God  nor  man  to  find  a  friend. 
When  Phoon's  hand,  by  heavenly  wisdom  led. 
The  magic  ungent  o'er  his  body  spread, 
Admiring  Sappho  dropped  her  trembling  lyre, 
And  sudden  wonder  checked  the  poet's  fire. 
So  shall  the  expanding  beauty  of  our  land. 
Touched  by  the  plastic  power  of  freedom's  hand. 
While  joyful  patriots  viewing  shall  admire 
Her  altars  glowing  with  celestial  fire. 


ox    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  97 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Ascent  of  Mount  Hood. 

/^  N  the  morning  of  the  twenty- fourth  day  of  Jvily,  1866.  in 
^^  company  with  three  gentlemen  of  the  city  of  Portland, 
Oregon,  I  set  out  with  heart  and  hope,  full  of  determination  to 
stand  upon  that  summit  if  mortal  energy  and  determination  could 
reach  it.  Our  place  of  rendezous  was  at  the  house  of  a  Canad- 
ian by  the  name  of  Revnue,  who,  fourteen  years  before,  had 
erected  a  cabin  at  the  place  where  the  emigrant  road  leaves  the 
mountains  and  enters  the  valley  of  the  Willamette.  Our  way 
here  entered  the  mountains  in  the  gorge,  through  which  flows  a 
dashing  river  three  hundred  feet  wide,  which  rises  from  beneath 
the  glaciers  of  Mount  Hood.  Up  this  stream  we  traveled  for 
thirty  miles,  when,  leaving  the  gorge,  the  way  makes  a  detour  to 
the  right  to  gain  the  summit  ridge.  Here  is  the  celebrated 
"Laurel  Hill."  For  three  or  four  miles  the  ascent  is  continuous, 
and  in  many  places  very  steep  and  difficult.  The  top  of  Laurel 
Hill  is  the  general  summit  of  the  range,  which  is  perhaps  ten 
miles  in  width,  and  has  the  general  character  of  a  marsh  or 
swamp.  There  is  here  a  dense  and  grand  growtli  of  fir,  cedar, 
sugar-pine,  and  kindred  evergreens,  with  an  almost  impenetrable 
undergrowth  of  laurel.  There  is  an  inexpressible  sense  of  lonli- 
ness  in  these  deep  solitudes.  Struggling  rays  of  sunlight  only 
here  and  there  find  way  through  the  dense  foliage,  and  then  fall 
cold  and  white  upon  the  damp  ground.     Passing  over  this  level 


98  r.ll'E    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

we  crossed  several  bold,  clear  streams,  dashing  across  our  way 
from  the  direction  of  Mount  Hood  over  beds  of  scoriaceous  sand, 
whicli  had  been  borne  down  from  that  vast  pile  of  volcanic  ma- 
terial, now  only  five  or  six  miles  away.     We  now  found  an  old 
Indian  trail  leading  in  the  direction  of  the  mountain,  and,  after 
a  ride  of  an  hour  and  a  half  upon  it,  came  out  into  an  opening 
of  scattered  trees,  which  sweeps  around  the  south  side  of  the 
mountain.     It  was  five  o'clock  when  we  emerged  from  the  forest, 
and  stood  for  the  time  appalled,  confronting  the  body  of  rocks 
and   snow   which   springs   up   from  the   average   altitude  of  the 
mountains  and  enters  into  wedlock  with  the  bending  ether.    The 
bewildering   greatness    without    inspired     an      unutterable     awe 
within.     Selecting  a  place  for  our  camp  on  a  beautiful  grassy 
ridge  between  one  of  the  main  afiBuents  of  the  Des  Chutes  and  the 
Clackamas  Rivers,  and  which  really  constitute  the  dividing  ridge, 
we  erected  a  booth  of  boughs,  gathered  fuel  for  a  large  fire  dur- 
ing the  night,  and  gave  ourselves  up  to  hours  of  contemplation 
of  the  strange  scene  around,  above,  and  beneath  us. 

"The  evening  now  came  on,  creeping  noiselessly  over  the 
mountains,  and  shedding  a  strange,  weird,  and  melancholy  splen- 
dor over  the  scene.  The  moon  was  at  its  full,  the  sky  clear  as 
crystal,  and  the  moonbeams  seemed  to  troop  in  columns  along 
the  glittering  acclivities  of  the  glaciers.  Mount  Hood  seemed 
taller,  grander,  and  more  glorious  than  before.  Often,  during 
the  nighf  oi  that  march  over  the  hills,  I  arose  from  my  blankets, 
walked  to  a  point  a  few  rods  away,  and  contemplated  with  some- 
thing of  awe  and  much  of  reverence  the  divinely-illumined  pic- 
ture. Those  who  study  Mount  Hood  only  in  the  studio  of  the 
artist,  before  such  paint  and  brush  caricatures  Bierstadt's,  know 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  (jk) 

nothing  of  its  real  grandeur,  its  overwhelming  greatness.  Ak-n 
praise  the  artist  who,  on  canvas,  can  make  some  slight  imita- 
tion of  such  a  scene  ;  why  will  they  not  adore  the  Maker  whose 
power  and  skill  builds  and  paints  the  grand  originals? 

At  seven  o'clock  of  Thursday,  having  provided  ourselves 
with  staves  seven  feet  in  length,  and  taken  such  refreshments 
as  we  should  need  on  the  mountain,  we  were  ready  for  the  ascent. 
For  the  first  mile  and  a  half  the  way  was  easy,  over  a  bed  of 
volcanic  rock,  decayed,  and  intermixed  with  ashes.  Huge  rocks 
stood  here  and  there,  and  two  or  three  stunted  junipers  and  a  few 
varieties  of  mosses  were  all  the  vegetation. 

We  now  reached  the  foot  of  a  broad  field  of  snow  which 
sweeps  around  the  south  side  of  the  mountain  for  several  miles 
in  length,  and  extending  upward  to  the  immediate  summit  of  the 
mountain,  perhaps  four  miles.  Two  miles  of  this  snow  field  is 
smooth,  and  only  in  places  so  steep  as  to  render  the  footsteps  un- 
certain. Near  its  upper  edge  the  deep  gorges,  from  which  flow 
affluents  of  the  Des  Chutes  on  the  right,  and  Sandy  on  the  left, 
approach  each  other,  cutting  down  to  the  very  foundations  of  the 
mountain.  The  waters  are  rushing  from  beneath  the  glaciers, 
which,  at  the  upper  extremity,  were  rent  and  broken  into  fissures 
and  caverns  of  unknown  depth. 

The  present  summit  of  the  mountain  is  evidently  what  was 
long  since  the  northern  rim  of  an  immense  crater,  which  could 
not  have  been  less  than  three  miles  in  diameter.  Its  southern 
wall  has  fallen  completely  away,  and  the  crater  itself  is  filled  with 
rock  and  ashes,  overlaid  with  the  accumulated  snows  of  ages, 
through  the  rents  and  chasms  of  which  now  escape  smoke,  steam, 
and  gases  from  the  pent-up  fires  below.    The  fires  are  yet  so  near 


lOO  LIFR    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIOXEER 

that  many  of  the  rocks  which  project  upward  through  these  icy 
depths  arc  so  hot  that  the  naked  hand  cannot  be  held  upon  them. 
Just  at  the  southwest  foot  of  the  circular  wall  now  constituting 
the  summit,  and  at  a  distance  of  about  two  thousand  feet  from  its 
extreme  iieight.  is  now  the  main  opening  of  the  crater.  From  this 
a  column  of  smoke  and  steam  is  continually  issuing,  at  times 
rising  and  floating  away  on  the  wind,  at  other  times  rolling  heav- 
ily down  the  mountain.  Into  this  crater  I  descended  as  far  as  it 
was  possible  without  ropes,  or  till  the  descent  was  prevented  by 
a  perpendicular  wall  of  ice  sixty  or  seventy  feet  high,  which  rest- 
ed below  on  a  bed  of  broken  rock  and  ashes  so  hot  as  immediately 
to  convert  the  water  which  dripped  continually  from  the  icy  roof 
one  hundred  feet  above  into  steam.  The  air  was  hot  and  stifling; 
but  I  did  so  desire  to  gather  some  ashes  and  rocks  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  crater  that  if  ropes  had  been  at  hand  I  should  certainly 
have  ventured  down. 

At  this  point  the  real  peril  of  the  ascent  begins.  It  leads 
out  and  up  the  inner  wall  of  what  was  once  the  crater,  and  near 
a  thousand  feet  of  it  is  at  an  angle  of  sixty  degrees.  This  ascent 
is  up  an  ice  field,  the  upper  limit  of  a  great  glacier,  which  is 
crashing  and  grinding  its  slow  journey  down  the  mountain  far 
to  the  right.  About  seven  hundred  feet  from  the  summit  a  cre- 
vasse from  five  to  fifty  feet  in  width,  and  of  unknown  depth,  cuts 
clear  across  the  glacier  from  wall  to  wall.  There  is  no  evading 
it.  The  summit  cannot  be  reached  without  crossing  it.  There  is 
no  other  pathway.  Steadily  and  deliberately  poising  myself  on 
my  staff,  I  sprang  over  the  crevasse  at  the  most  favorable  place 
I  could  select,  landing  safe  on  the  declivity  two  or  three  feet 
above  it,  and  then  with  my  staff  assisted  the  others  to  cross.  The 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  lOI 

last  movement  of  fifteen  feet  had  considerably  changed  the  pros 
pect  of  the  ascent.  We  were  thrown  by  it  directly  below  a  wall 
of  rock  and  ice  five  hundred  feet  high,  down  which  masses,  de- 
tached by  the  sun,  were  plunging  with  fearful  velocity.  To 
avoid  them  it  was  necessary  to  skirt  the  crevasse  on  the  upper 
side  for  a  distance,  and  then  turn  diagonally  up  the  remaining 
steep.  It  was  only  seven  hundred  feet  high,  but  it  was  two  hours' 
sinewy  tug  to  climb  it.  The  hot  sun  blazed  against  the  wall  of 
ice  within  two  feet  of  our  faces,  the  perspiration  streamed  from 
our  foreheads,  our  breath  was  labored  and  difficult,  yet  the  weary 
step"^  of  inches  were  multiplied  till,  on  nearing  the  summit,  the 
weariness  seemed  to  vanish,  an  ecstatic  excitement  thrilled  along 
every  nerve,  and  with  feelings  and  shouts  of  triumph  we  bounded 
upon  the  pinnacle  of  the  highest  mountain  in  North  America. 

The  summit  was  reached  at  about  the  center  of  the  circular 
wall  which  constitutes  the  extreme  altitude,  and  where  it  had 
so  sharp  an  edge  that  it  was  impossible  to  stand  erect  upon  it. 
Its  northern  face  is  an  escarpment  several  thousand  feet  high. 
Here  we  could  only  lie  down  on  the  southern  slope,  and  holding 
firmly  to  the  rocks,  look  down  the  awful  depth.  A  few  rods  to 
the  west  was  a  point  forty  or  fifty  feet  higher,  to  the  summit  of 
v^'hich  we  crawled,  and  there  discovered  that  forty  rods  eastward 
was  a  point  still  higher,  the  highest  of  the  mountains.  We 
crawled  back  along  the  sharp  escarpment,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
stood  erect  on  the  highest  pinnacle.  This  was  found  to  be  seven- 
teen thousand  six  hundred  and  fortv  feet  high;  the  thermometer, 
by  a  very  careful  observation,  standing  at  one  hundred  and  eighty 
degrees,  where  the  water  boiled  about  forty  feet  below  the  sum- 
mit.    This  gives  thirty-two  degrees  of  depression,  which,  at  the 


102  LIFE   AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

I'.sual  estimate  of  five  ImiKlred  and  fifty  feet  to  the  degree,  gives 
the  astonishing  altitude  indicated  above. 

The  scene  around  iis  was  indescribable.  Wc  were  favored 
with  one  of  the  clearest,  brightest  days  of  summer,  and  in  this 
latitude  and  on  this  coast  objects  are  plainly  visible  at  an  almost 
incredible  distance.  It  would  be  impossible  to  convey  to  the 
reader  an  adequate  impression  of  the  scene,  yet  a  few  general 
observations  may  be  taken.  Tlie  first  is  the  Cascade  Range 
itself.  From  south  to  north,  from  Diamond  Peak  to  Rainier,  a 
distance  of  not  less  than  four  hundred  miles,  the  whole  moun- 
tain line  is  under  the  eye.  Within  that  distance  are  Mounts  Saint 
Helens,  Baker,  Jeflferson,  the  Three  Sisters,  making,  with  Mount 
Hood,  nine  snowy  mountains.  Eastward  the  Blue  Mountains 
are  in  distinct  view  for  at  least  four  hundred  miles  in  length,  and 
lying  between  us  and  them  are  the  broad  plains  of  the  Des 
Chutes,  John  Day's,  and  Umatilla  Rivers,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  in  width.  On  the  west  the  piny  crests  of  the  Coast  Range 
cut  clear  against  the  sky,  with  the  Willamette  Valley  sleeping  in 
(|uiet  beauty  at  tiicir  feet.  The  broad  silver  belt  of  the  Columbia 
winds  gracefully  through  the  evergreen  valley  toward  the  ocean, 
which  we  are  blending  with  the  horizon  through  the  broad  visca 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Within  these  wide  limits  is  every 
•.ariety  of  mountain  and  valley,  lake  and  prairie,  bold,  battling 
precipices,  and  gracefully  rounded  summits,  blending  and  melt- 
ing away  into  each  other,  forming  a  wiiole  of  vmutterable  mag- 
nificence. The  descent  to  the  great  crevasse,  though  much  more 
rapidly  accomplished,  was  perhaps  quite  as  perilous  as  the  as- 
cent. We  were  now  approaching  the  gorge,  and  a  single  mis- 
step might  precipitate  us  into  un fathomed  depths.    Less  than  half 


ON    THE    PACiriC    COAST    SINXE    1853  IO3 

an  hour  was  sufficient  to  retrace  the  weary  cHmbing  of  three 
hours,  and,  standing  for  a  moment  on  the  upper  edge  of  the 
chasm,  we  bounded  over  it  where  it  was  about  eight  feet  in 
width.  The  impetus  of  the  leap  sent  us  plunging  down  the 
icy  steep  below. 

In  two  hours  from  the  summit  we  reached  our  camp.  At 
dark  we  began  to  pay  the  price  of  our  pleasure.  The  glare  of  the 
sun  on  the  ice  had  burned  our  faces  and  dazzled  our  eyes  till 
they  were  so  painful  that  not  one  of  the  party  slept  a  moment 
during  the  night.  I  kept  over  my  eyes  and  face  a  cloth  wetted 
with  ice-water  all  night,  and  in  the  morning  was  able  to  see; 
but  two  of  the  party  were  as  blind  as  rocks  for  forty-eight  hours. 
But  we  were  well  compensated  for  all  our  toil  and  pain.  And 
now,  as  often  as  thought  recurs  to  the  moment  when  I  stood 
upon  that  awful  height,  and  the  same  awe  of  the  infinite  God 
who  settest  fast  the  mountains,  being  girded  with  power,  comes 
over  my  soul,  I  praise  Him  that  He  gave  me  strength  to  stand 
w^here  His  power  speaks  with  words  few  mortals  ever  hear,  and 
the  reverent  worshipings  of  mountains  and  solitudes  seem  flow- 
ing up  to  His  throne. 

From  this  magnificent  picture,  in  which  we  have  seen  blend- 
ed in  beautiful  harmony  extended  valleys  and  fertile  plains,  dot- 
ted here  and  there  with  numerous  signs  of  civilization,  lines  of 
forest,  rising  grounds,  lofty  hills,  towering  mountains,  majestic 
glaciers,  meandering  streams,  and  flowing  rivers,  we  will  turn 
our  faces  southward,  and  there,  as  clearly  as  from  the  top  of 
Mount  Hood,  the  shimmering  summit  of  Jefferson  greets  tlif* 
eye,  and,  looking  a  little  further  still,  the  Three  Sisters,  clad  in 
their  robes  of  unsullied  whiteness,  stand  out  in  bold  relier,  as  if 


104  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

to  add  a  finish  to  the  glorious  panorama  which  we  have  been 
contemplating.  We  have  as  yet  gone  round  but  half  the  circle,  and 
we  have  time  only  to  glance  at  the  other  half,  where  the  Coast 
Range  draws  its  lines  against  the  western  sky,  and  then  leave 
this  point  of  observation,  and  proceed  up  the  valley  with  our  ex- 
plorations. Six  miles  above  the  city  of  Salem  comes  flowing 
down  into  the  Willamette  from  the  west  a  stream  called  La  Cre- 
ole, which  can  also  boast  of  its  privileges  for  milling  operations, 
;uid  of  watering  a  splendid  portion  of  the  country.  Fifteen  miles 
above  this  is  the  Luckimute,  a  fine  stream,  bordered  on  each 
side  by  fertile  plains.  Three  miles  further  on  is  Soap  Creek, 
which  can  also  boast  of  its  advantages.  These  all  rise  in  the 
Coast  Range,  and,  running  eastward  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles 
crosswise  of  the  valley,  hasten  to  mingle  their  waters  with  those 
of  the  Willamette.  Fifteen  miles  above  Salem,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Willamette,  the  Santiam  comes  dancing  down  its  channel 
as  clear  as  the  crystal  drop  that  oozes  from  the  pines,  whose 
forms  are  reflected  from  its  limpid  waters.  This  is  a  very  con- 
siderable stream,  and  flows  through  an  excellent  portion  of  the 
country.  The  springs  of  the  Cascade  Mountains  supply  its  sev- 
eral branches,  and  from  the  extent  of  the  country  westward,  and 
the  driving  power  which  it  affords,  it  is  not  .second  to  any  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  Willamette.  Eight  miles  above  the  Santiam 
we  come  to  the  ])oint  where  the  flourishing  city  of  Albany  is  lo- 
cated, at  the  mouth  of  the  Callapooia  River.  This  stream,  rising 
far  up  in  the  Cascades,  and  flowing  across  the  eastern  half  of  the 
valley  diagonally,  fertilizes  and  beautifies  a  large  portion  of  tut 
county  of  Linn.  Above  this  a  few  miles  is  another  stream,  ap- 
propriately named  Muddy,  from  tlie  appearance  of  its  dark,  tur- 


ON    THK    I'ACIinc    C(MST    SINCE    1853  IO5 

bid  waters.  Its  principal  value  consists  in  its  affording  an  abun- 
dance of  stock  water  in  the  dry  season.  Above  this  some  twenty 
miles  the  M'Kenzie  fork  of  the  Willamette  comes  booming  out  of 
a  gorge  in  the  Cascade  Mountains,  and  from  this  we  will  pass 
over  to  the  westward  side,  and  cross  Grand  Prarie,  beautiful  in 
the  extreme,  and  at  its  further  border  we  hnd  a  very  interesting 
stream  bearing  the  euphonious  name  of  "Long  Tom." 

This  stream  rises  in  numerous  rivulets  which  issue  from  the 
Coast  Range,  and,  watering  a  large  extent  of  country,  unite,  and, 
running  northward  at  the  base  of  the  foot  hills  of  the  Coast 
Range,  discharge  their  waters  into  the  Willamette  twelve  miles 
above  the  city  of  Corvallis.  We  have  now  reached  the  upper  or 
south  end  of  the  valley  proper,  and  a  collection  of  prairie  and  tim- 
bered hills,  which  are  generally  settled  up,  extend  southward 
for  twenty-five  miles  or  more  before  they  swell  into  the  bolder 
and  loftier  outlines  of  the  Callapooia  Mountains,  which  form  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  ureat  Willamette  Vallev. 

The  Siuselaw  is  a  small  though  independent  valley,  lying 
between  the  waters  which  flow  into  the  Willamette  River  and 
those  of  the  Umpqua.  The  upper  part  of  this  valley,  some  fifty 
miles  from  the  ocean,  though  small,  is  rich  and  fertile,  and  ca- 
pable of  sustaining  a  much  heavier  population  than  have  yet  set- 
tled uj)on  its  limpid  and  health-giving  waters.  The  river  pierces 
the  entire  Coast  Range,  forming  a  valley  of  varied  extent,  and 
empties  itself  into  the  F*acific  Ocean.  Salmon  enter  this  river,  as 
also  nearly  all  tlie  streams  that  run  into  the  ocean,  in  great  abun- 
dance in  their  season,  so  that  at  times  they  literally  fill  the  channel 
from  bank  to  bank. 


I06  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF  A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Fourth  of  July  Oration  at  Santa  Rosa. 

'  I  'III',  title  which  your  worthy  chairman  has  been  pleased  to 
Use  in  presenting  me  to  this  large  and  intelligent  audience, 
on  this  occasion,  has  caused  some  slight  degree  of  embarrassment 
to  take  possession  of  my  mind.  I  am  not  here  as  an  "oritor," 
nor  do  I  desire  that  the  few  remarks  I  siiall  make  here  to-day 
should  be  dignified  with  the  name  of  an  "oration."  It  is  not  my 
desire,  even  if  I  were  able,  to  hold  up  before  you  in  measured 
and  glowing  sentences  either  the  things  that  have  been,  or  those 
that  are  expected  to  be.  My  ambition  will  be  fully  met  if  I  shall 
succeed  in  presenting  to  your  minds  some  plain  and  important 
facts  upon  which  you  may  find  it  profitable  to  meditate  in  other 
days. 

Every  solid  and  enduring  advance  in  both  individual  or  na-. 
tional  life  and  character  must  be  achieved  by  appeals  to  the  en- 
lightened reason  and  judgment  of  men.  Our  passions  and  our 
fancies  will  ncv.er  jjrove  to  us  a  safe  and  reliable  guide.  These 
and  the  various  images  which  they  evoke  will  now,  as  in  the 
past,  "lead  to  bewilder  and  dazzle  to  blind." 

To-fJay  we  count  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  second  century  of 
our  life  as  a  nation.  Nearly  four  generations  have  passed  away 
since  the  great  event  transpired  which  gave  us  this,  our  natal 
day.  These  have  been  generations  whose  characters  and  achieve- 
ments have  made  us  what  we  now  are.     Deeds  of  noble  daring 


ON    Tlllv   I'ACIFIC    C(JAST   SINCE    1853  IO7 

in  battle,  deeds  of  heroic  fortitude  in  toil  and  suffering,  deeds  in 
which  have  been  revealed  the  most  profound  learning;  the  most 
wonderful  flights  of  eloquence  in  pulpit,  senate  and  forum;  the 
most  inspiring  and  elevating  strains  of  poetry  and  song;  crowned 
and  sanctified  by  the  purest  and  most  sincere  devotion  to  the 
institutions  of  our  country  and  the  universal  elevation  and  im- 
provement of  the  human  race.  To  blot  out  these  deeds  and 
words  from  the  records  of  time  would  almost  seem  equivalent 
to  the  destruction  of  human  being  and  hope.  When  they,  who 
performed  them,  came,  the  world  needed  them ;  when  the  passed 
away,  the  world  mourned  their  loss.  With  all  the  grand  and 
glorious  results  of  their  toil  and  devotion  around  us,  with  all 
the  noble  and  beautiful  traits  of  their  characters  for  our  inheri- 
tance;  with  the  elevating  and  inspiring  examples  of  their  un- 
selfish patriotism  glowing  on  the  pages  of  history  and  living  in 
the  cherished  and  grateful  memories  of  our  own  souls,  we  now 
and  here  look  upward  from  this  sylvan  scene,  and,  while  our 
eyes  are  greeted  with  that  glorious  and  revered  emblem  of  our 
nation's  greatness  and  grandeur,  stirred  by  the  gentle  breezes 
from  the  mountains  and  kissed  by  the  radiant  sunbeams  of 
heaven ;  with  the  heart  throbbing  with  sentiments  of  devotion 
and  love,  we  exclaim  : 

"Forever  our  souls  will  be  grateful  to  God, 
That  the  blood  of  such  heroes  now  flows  in  our  veins." 
This,  we  doubt  not,  is  to  each  one  of  us  a  suggestive  and 
patriotic  occasion.     Not  unlike  that  which  burned  so  brightly  in 
the  souls  of  the  founders  of  the  Republic,  is  the  fire  that  warms 
our  hearts  to-day. 

But  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  what  we  are  here  to  cele- 


I08  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

brate  on  this  occasion  is  not  merely  or  cliietly  a  day,  an  act,  or  an 
historic  event.  These,  though  they  may  all  be  interesting  and 
important  as  revealing  a  statement  by  whicli  the  human  progress 
is  measured,  yet  above,  and  beyond,  and  better,  and  more  glo- 
rious than  all  the  facts  of  history  is  the  spirit,  the  all-pervading 
life  that  made  these  immortal  declarations  of  men  the  true  ex- 
ponents of  the  will  and  purpose  of  Heaven.  It  was  a  mere  in- 
cident that  gave  us  the  day,  for  the  sun  was  just  sinking  in  the 
western  sky  when  the  momentous  decision  was  reached,  but  it 
was  an  infinite  Wisdom  that  gave  us  the  sentiment  and  doctrine, 
by  implanting  in  the  nature  of  man  an  instinct  of  freedom,  with 
a  living  and  glowing  ideal  pointing  out  the  manner  of  its  appli- 
cation and  the  progress  of  its  development. 

When  our  good  brother,  with  so  nuich  fervor  and  sin- 
cerity, bore  our  spirits  heavenward  on  the  wings  of  faith  and 
prayer,  our  thoughts  turned  backward  to  the  time  when  the 
fathers  of  the  Republic  sought  in  their  councils  and  delibera- 
tions the  favour  and  guidance  of  Heaven.  When  a  nation  or  a 
people  loses  their  hold  upon  the  divine,  the  most  patent  and  posi- 
tive element  of  success  and  greatness  has  been  weakened,  if  not 
destroyed.  While  we  have  always  and  wisely  set  our  faces  as  a 
people  against  all  attempts  at  union  of  church  and  vState,  yet 
blending  with  our  most  enthusia.stic  tributes  to  national  freedom, 
has  always  been  found  united  the  elevating  and  inspiring  senti- 
ment of  religious  devotion.  It  is  as  true  now  as  it  ever  has  been 
in  the  past  that  the  torch-bearers  of  human  hope,  those  who  have 
lifted  on  high  the  beacon  light  tliat  has  guided  a  struggling  race 
to  battle  and  to  victory,  have  been  thoughtful  and  reverent  men. 

While  we  do  not  desire  to  appear  unmindful  of  the  physical 


ON    TIIK    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  IO9 

Struggles  of  our  Revolutionary  sires,  their  sufferings,  privations 
and  wonderful  and  glorious  military  achievements,  yet  we  cannot 
pause  here  to  recount  them,  or  make  them  a  leading  factor  in  the 
lessons  to  be  taught  on  this  anniversary  of  our  natal  day.  These 
are  all  valuable  and  must  not  be  forgotten  by  the  American  peo- 
ple, but  their  value  now,  as  ever,  consists  in  their  power  to  re- 
veal and  enforce  a  grand  and  noble  principle. 

This  then  shall  be  the  key-note  of  our  present  reflections,  the 
inspiration  of  all  our  thoughts  and  words  to-day,  and  not  only 
now  and  here,  but  all  along  the  future  years,  until  the  whole 
spirit  of  the  immortal  principle  of  freedom  shall  become  the 
inheritance  of  all  the  people. 

Listen  again  to  the  grand  and  noble  statement  that  first  fell 
upon  the  ears  of  man  in  old  Independence  Hall,  and  has  been  to 
all  the  intervening  generations  a  priceless  treasure  of  truth  and 
wisdom.  To-day,  in  the  light  of  passing  events,  it  seems  to 
possess  a  new  and  more  instructive  significance  than  ever  before. 

"We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident :  That  all  men  are 
created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  cer- 
tain inalienable  rights ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness. 

"That  to  secure  these  rights  governments  are  instituted 
among  men,  deriving  their  just  power  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed  ;  that  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  de- 
structive of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its  founda- 
tion on  such  principles  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form 
as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  eft'ect  their  safety  and  hap- 
piness." 


no  LIFE    AND    LABOUS   OF    A    PIONEER 

This,  then,  is  what  we  celebrate  to-day:  the  beauty  and 
grandeur,  the  far-reacliing  significance  of  a  Divine  Endowment 
of  humanity.  ""Our  Creator"  has  endowed  us  with  "Hfe,"  or  the 
privilege  and  immunities  of  being.  We  not  only  have  a  right 
to  live  because  we  are,  but  also  because  the  Creator  is.  Life  is 
an  inestimable,  inalienable,  God-given  endowment  or  right.  In 
all  its  forms  of  presentation,  it  seems  the  crowning  exercise  of 
Divine  power,  wisdom  and  love:  the  bewildering  and  unfathom- 
able mystery  of  all  worlds ;  the  only  thing  without  v.diich  we 
know  nothing,  and  about  which  nothing  is  known.  None  by 
searching  can  find  it,  and  none  by  wisdom  can  tell  the  place  of 
its  hiding,  or  the  boundaries  of  its  dominion  and  the  throne  of  its 
power. 

There  is  but  one  thing  in  the  universe  superior  to  life :  that 
is  law ;  or  the  mode  and  model  after  which  life  was  formed  and 
by  which  it  continues  to  be. 

To  be  endowed,  therefore,  by  our  All-Wise  Creator  with  life 
implies  a  free  access  to  all  those  super-added  natural  elements 
by  which  that  life  is  sustained  and  perpetuated,  such  as  air, 
light,  water  and  land.  These  are  the  fundamental  and  vital 
sources  from  which  all  life  draws  its  nourishment  and  support. 
No  man  has  a  right  to  say,  or  can  say,  that  he  will  continue  to 
exist  in  this  world  independent  of  these  natural  elements.  And 
no  government  has  a  right  to  say,  or  can  say,  that  man  shall 
perform  the  duties  and  functions  of  citizenship  without  the  use 
of  these  natural  elements.  It  takes  all  of  these  to  make  up  the 
complicated  machinery  and  vital  energy  we  call  life.  To  elimi- 
nate one  of  them  is  to  derange  and  destroy  the  whole.  They  must 
exist  in  harmony  of  support,  and  in  exactness  of  supply  or  the 


ON    THK    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCK    1853  III 

central  fire  is  at  once  extinguished.  All  that  js^overnment  can 
properly  do  is  to  guide  and  encourage  man  in  the  attainment  of 
these  things,  and  protect  him  in  their  use  and  enjoyment 

One  thing  we  desire  especially  to  impress  upon  your  minds 
on  this  occasion ;  and  that  is,  that  we  have  not  measured  up  to 
the  full  demands  of  a  Christian  civilization  when  we  make  men 
equal  before  the  law.  This  undoubtedly  would  be  a  great  and 
important  consummation,  and  would  work  a  wonderful  and.  in 
many  instances,  a  radical  change  in  our  national  jurisprudence. 
The  duty  of  the  hour  with  us  is  to  make  the  law  itself  equal. 
Or,  in  other  words,  make  the  law  a  true  and  unmistakable  ex- 
ponent and  protector  of  the  natural  and  inalienable  rights  of 
man.  When  the  people  give  their  formal  consent  to  a  govern- 
mental policy  that  seeks  to  hamper  or  obliterate  these,  the  dark- 
ness that  obscures  and  the  corruption  that  enslaves  will  speedily 
and  inevitably  come  upon  them.  This  has  been  the  history  of  all 
ages  and  peoples.  The  scattered  wrecks  of  fallen  em.pires  that 
strew  the  pathway  of  departed  centuries  bear  sad  and  affecting 
testimony  to  this  inflexible  law  of  human  life. 

What  would  be  your  opinion  of  a  government  that  would 
deliberately  make  it  impossible  for  a  part  of  its  good  and  faith- 
ful subjects  to  drink  the  refreshing  waters,  or  breathe  the  vital 
air,  or  look  upon  the  golden  sunlight,  or  should  turn  over  these 
natural  elements,  which  the  wise  and  loving  Creator  has  pro- 
duced for  all,  into  the  hands  of  a  favored  few.  But  you  say, 
this  would  be  a  physical  impossibility.  Suppose  we  grant  th'S 
for  a  moment  and  see  where  it  will  lead  us.  Upon  this  theory, 
the  obstacles  of  control  exist  in  the  elements  themselves  and  not 
in  the  relation  which  the  government  sustains  to  my  personal 


112  LIFI;    AXD    LABORS    OF    A    PIONEER 

inalienable  rights.  This  would  eliminate  all  moral  or  spiritual 
attributes  from  the  nature  and  relations  of  men  and  limit  the 
sphere  of  law  to  the  narrow  range  of  physical  powers  and  possi- 
bilities. It  would  destroy  the  beauty  and  harmony  of  the  Cre- 
ator's workmanship,  and  bring  man  down  from  the  lofty  and 
dignified  sphere  of  reason  and  faith,  where  the  mightiest  battles 
have  been  fought  and  the  noblest  victories  won. 

The  spirit  of  our  great  charter  undoubtedly  contemplated 
the  free  and  untrammeled  access  of  men  to  all  the  natural  re- 
sources essential  to  the  unfoldment  and  perpetuity  of  "life,  lib- 
erty and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  All  that  government  can 
do  is  to  make  it  possible  for  men  to  realize  the  best  there  is,  both 
in  themselves  and  the  world  around  them.  The  measure  and 
character  of  its  repressive  force  must  always  depend  upon  the 
action  of  individuals  in  endeavoring  to  justify  and  maintain  an 
usurpation  of  natural  rights.  The  spirit  of  that  noble  Declara- 
tion is  lost  when  government  allows  even  one  of  the  poorest  and 
weakest  of  its  subjects  to  suffer  the  loss  of  a  single  right,  or  feci 
the  unnecessary  pressure  of  a  single  wrong. 

Woe  to  the  government  that  shuts  out  from  the  eyes  of  the 
people  the  bright  beams  of  truth,  and  leaves  them  to  wander  in 
the  dark,  dismal  labyrinths  of  error  and  falsehood.  Woe  to  the 
nation  llial  holds  with  an  unequal  hand  the  seals  of  equity  ami 
justice,  and  permits  any  within  its  borders  to  become  a  prey  to 
violence  and  oppression. 

VVoe  to  the  country  that  closes  the  gates  to  the  temple  of 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  and  leaves  its  toiling  and  enquiring 
people  to  wander  upon  the  bleak  anrl  barren  mountains  of  ig- 
norance and  folly.     When  the  seed  she  has  jjlanted  has  sprouted 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  II3 

and  grown,  and  the  fruitful  harvest  of  error,  injustice,  ignor- 
ance and  degradation  has  matured  and  ripened,  then,  together, 
with  sighing  and  weeping,  we  shall  be  compelled  to  bend  our 
weary  bodies  to  the  toil  of  reaping.  The  law  of  reproduction  is 
as  certain  and  fixed  in  the  moral  and  political  as  in  the  natural 
world,  and  it  is  as  true  now  as  it  ever  has  been  or  ever  will  be, 
that  "whatever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

We  do  not  believe  you  would  be  at  all  satisfied,  or  consider 
us  true  to  the  day  and  the  occasion,  did  we  fail  to  present  for 
your  thoughtful  consideration  some  very  important  and  interest- 
ing questions  of  reform  and  progress  that  are  now  pressing  upon 
the  attention  of  the  entire  nation. 

But  \ve  wish  it  distinctly  understood  that  no  question  will 
be  urged  upon  you  in  narrow  spirit  of  captious  criticism.  We 
are  aware  that  we  are  speaking  to-day  before  men  and  women 
of  different  parties  and  creeds.  But  better  than  all,  we  feel  as- 
sured that  we  are  addressing  those  who  esteem  patriotism  as 
better  than  party,  and  truth  better  than  a  creed. 

Before  me  are  the  noble  and  worthy  sons  of  those  immortal 
statesmen  and  heroes  who  promulgated  and  defended  the  glo- 
rious document  read  to  us,  and  the  ever-living  inspiration  of 
which  is  moving  the  heart  of  the  nation  to-day. 

These  questions  should  not  and  must  not  be  ignored  by 
any.  They  strike  at  the  very  heart  of  our  theme  on  this  occa- 
sion. They  belong  to  every  man  and  woman  before  me.  They 
ought  to  come  to  every  heart  and  conscience  with  a  sanction  and 
power  from  which  there  can  be  no  appeal. 

But  we  must  hasten  to  other  points,  leaving  you  to  trace 
out  this  fruitful  theme  in  its  more  elaborate  details  and  find  how 


114  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

fully  and  inspirably  it  stands  connected  with  your  present  and 
future  happiness. 

One  of  the  most  imminent  dangers  that  threatens  the  in- 
stitutions of  our  country  at  the  present  time  is  the  wholesale  and 
reckless  manner  in  which  people  of  other  countries  are  admitted 
to  citizenship  in  our  country.  Especially  is  this  noticeable  in 
all  our  large  cities.  This  practice  has  become  so  open  and  per- 
sistent that  all  intelligent  and  patriotic  people  have  become  filled 
with  suspicion  and  alarm.  No  one  can  longer  doubt  but  that  a 
conspiracy  has  been  formed,  by  corrupt  and  destroying  men,  to 
break  down  our  industrial  system,  and  destroy  the  recognized 
safeguards  of  our  national  liberties. 

Jn  many  instances  courts  have  been  held  open  from  early 
morning  until  the  hour  of  midnight  in  order  to  carry  out  tiiis 
nefarious  crime  against  the  American  people.  Thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  citizens  have  been  made  out  of  raw  and 
ignorant  immigrants,  unable  to  read  the  English  language,  and 
utterly  destitute  of  every  qualification  essential  to  a  proper  un- 
derstanding of  the  character  and  spirit  of  our  institutions.  In 
most  instances  they  are  persons  who  acknowledge  a  sovereignty 
existing  independent  of  all  national  boundaries  or  laws.  Profess- 
ing to  hold  authority  from  a  Power  that  rules  and  governs  all 
peoples  and  all  kingdoms,  it  claims  the  right  to  establish  impirio 
impirium, — an  empire  within  an  empire, — for  the  especial  bene- 
fit of  its  own  subjects. 

Professional  witnesses  have  been  kept  on  hand,  ready  to  testi- 
fy at  a  moment's  notice  to  the  good  moral  character  of  a  herd  of 
low,  ignorant,  degraded  persons,  who  carry  in  their  festering 
bodies  and  souls  the  moral  and  social  pollution  and  crimes  of 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST    SIXCE    1853  II5 

twenty  centuries.  Knowing  nothing  of  the  genius  of  our  govern- 
ment,  and  caring  less,  they  stand  ready  to  yield  obedience  to 
the  commands  and  wishes  of  those  whom  for  generations  they 
and  their  ancestors  have  been  taught  to  regard  as  their  guides 
and  masters. 

r)iU  recently,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  68,000  of  these  peo- 
ple were  made  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  the  space  of  one 
week.  Enough,  as  we  can  plainly  see,  to  carry  any  election  in 
that  great  State  in  favor  of  the  political  party  that  may  chance 
to  have  them  under  its  control. 

But  do  not  misunderstand  us.  We  rejoice  to  know  that 
there  is  a  place  in  this  tyrant-cursed  world  where  men  and  wom- 
en may  find  a  refuge  from  the  cruel  hand  of  the  oppressor.  This 
has  been  our  proud  boast  through  all  generations,  that  America, 
the  land  of  liberty,  has  been  the  asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  all 
nations. 

But  from  the  very  first  this  proud  distinction  was  not  in- 
tended to  imply  that  this  country  could  or  would  be  an  asylum 
for  any  jirinciple  or  practice,  whether  secular,  social  or  religious, 
that  is  not  in  sympathy  and  harmony  with  the  institutions  of 
freedom  for  which  our  fathers  toiled  and  died. 

At  the  very  borders  of  our  territory,  we  meet  the  man  smit- 
ten with  a  contagious  disease,  or  guilty  of  a  heinous  crime,  and 
promptly  and  without  hesitancy  turn  him  back  to  the  place  from 
whence  he  came.  Has  it  been  any  more  plainly  demonstrated, 
we  would  enquire,  that  the  physical  and  moral  health  and  welfare 
of  our  people  depend  upon  the  exclusion  of  disease  and  crime, 
than  that  the  safety  and  perpetuity  of  our  government  rests  upon 
intelligence  and  patriotism? 


Il6  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

The  truth  is  the  time  has  fully  come  in  the  history  of  this 
Republic  when  it  becomes  a  sacred  duty  on  the  part  of  every 
lover  of  his  country  to  sound  a  note  of  warning  upon  this  ques- 
tion. To  hesitate  longer  would  be  treason  to  liberty.  However 
humiliating  the  statement,  yet  in  the  light  of  recent  events,  we 
cannot  avoid  the  conclusion  that  upon  our  own  soil  and  in  high 
places  of  honor  and  power  there  is  now  being  matured  a  pur- 
pose to  build  up  an  aristocracy  of  wealth  upon  the  downfall  of 
popular  freedom. 

America  will  always  be  proud  to  acknowledge  that  invalua- 
ble service  of  those  noble  heroes  and  lovers  of  liberty  who  came 
from  their  distant  homes,  from  beyond  the  sea,  to  aid  us  by 
their  councils  and  swords,  in  our  great  struggle  for  independ- 
ence. The  names  of  Lafayette,  De  Kalb,  Steuben,  Pulaski  and 
others,  will  ever  stand  associated  in  our  memory  and  praise  with 
those  immortal  soldiers  and  statesmen  who  had  their  birth  upon 
our  own  soil.  But  all  these  with  one  accord,  and  with  one  pur- 
pose, fought,  and  toiled,  and  bled  for  the  nation.  And  all  of 
their  countrymen  of  to-day,  who  breathe  the  same  spirit  and 
are  actuated  by  the  same  motives  are  welcome  to  a  home  within 
our  borders. 

We  are  not,  however,  at  the  present  time,  in  the  fiery  peril 
of  battle,  but  in  the  greater  and  more  trying  peril  of  peace.  If 
we  fail,  therefore,  to  guard  with  sleepless  vigilance  the  glorious 
inheritance  that  has  been  left  us,  and  to  insist  upon  a  more 
carefully  considered  assurance  of  safety  on  the  part  of  those  who 
come  to  our  shores,  another  generation  will  not  have  passed 
away  before  it  will  l)e  known  the  world  over  that  all  the  blood, 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  II7 

and  battle,  and  speech,  and  prayers,  that  have  been  offered  for 
the  liberties  of  our  country  have  been  offered  in  vain. 

Therefore,  in  all  forms  of  petition  and  remonstrance,  this 
question  must  be  urged  upon  the  attention  of  our  national  and 
vState  legislatures  without  further  delay.  For  the  best  good  of 
those  strangers  that  have  come  amongst  us ;  for  the  sake  of  the 
rising  generation  that  is  growing  up  around  us ;  for  the  safety 
of  a  land  where  human  freedom  must  fight  the  last  battle  with 
oppression  and  wrong ;  for  the  triumph  and  establishment  of  a 
Christian  civilization  that  is  here  destined  to  vindicate  its  heav- 
enly origin,  and  enthrone  truth,  justice  and  love  as  the  dominating 
principles  of  all  human  action,  we  insist  that  this  matter  be 
pressed  for  a  speedy  and  favorable  decision. 

Whatever  it  may  cost,  or  wherever  it  may  lead  us,  whether 
through  fire  and  water,  and  sacrifice,  and  suffering,  we  mu.>>t 
stand  firm  and  true,  marching  steadilv  and  bravely  on,  until  this 
American  sentiment  of  freedom,  that  had  its  birth  115  years 
ago  in  old  Independence  Hall,  shall  be  assured  of  a  life  that 
shall  only  be  measured  by  the  circling  years  of  all  coming  time. 


Il8  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  Xl\. 

That  Other  Bear,  and  How  I  Escaped. 

IN  those  early  days  it  was  no  uncommon  thing,  especially  along 
*■  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains,  to  meet  a  wan- 
dering grizzly,  and  a  fresh  track  made  by  one  of  those  terrible 
monsters,  when  five  or  six  miles  from  any  known  habitation,  is 
enough  to  cause  a  cautious  man  to  look  for  a  convenient  tree, 
where  he  might  take  up  his  lodgings  for  the  night.  About  the 
first  thing  I  did  after  entering  upon  my  work  as  agent  of  the  Un- 
iversity was  to  visit  the  general  office  of  the  Central  Pacific  Rail- 
road and  solicit  the  endorsement  of  Leland  Stanford  and  Charles 
Crocker,  president  and  vice-president  of  the  road,  and  who 
were  then  regarded  as  standing  at  the  head  of  the  business  men 
of  the  State.  On  entering  their  office  I  was  at  once  impressed 
with  the  difference  in  the  appearance  and  attitude  of  these  two 
men.  Mr.  Stanford  was  as  grave  and  serious  as  an  Arch-Bishop 
and  his  entire  personality  indicated  strength  and  endurance,  with 
a  faith  that  could  remove  mountains,  and  would,  did  they  but 
stand  in  his  way.  Mr.  Crocker,  on  the  other  hand,  was  quick, 
alert,  somewhat  impulsive,  who  would  not  hesitate  if  obstacles 
were  in  his  way,  to  give  them  notice  to  move  by  an  unceremon- 
ious kick.  Mr.  Stanford  quietly  arose,  shook  me  cordially  by  the 
hand,  and  inquired  as  to  the  purpose  of  my  visit.  I  stated  in  a 
brief  manner  the  nature  of  the  work  in  which  I  was  engaged.  I 
had  barely  closed  my  little  speech  when  Mr.  Crocker  turned  ab- 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  II9 

ruptly  in  his  chair,  and  in  a  few  words  settled  the  whole  matter 
by  snapping  out:  "I  know  what  he  wants,"  and  in  about  two 
minutes  after  having  written  out  a  free  pass  on  all  their  railroads 
and  river  boats,  said,  as  he  handed  it  to  mc,  "there,  take  that  and 
call  as  often  as  you  can.  We  are  building  railroads,  you  are  build- 
ing universities ;  all  are  necessary  and  we  will  have  them  all."  I 
quietly  remarked,  "that  will  do  to  start  with,  and  we  will  consid- 
er ourselves  both  fully  committed  to  a  good  and  noble  work."  I 
bowed  myself  out,  and  at  once  hastened  to  the  depot  to  test  the 
first  time  the  virtue  of  my  pass.  I  was  soon  speeding  away  to- 
wards Colfax,  where  I  intended  to  take  the  trail  to  Xorth  San 
Juan,  Michigan  Bluffs,  and  other  small  mining  towns  in  that 
region.  We  had  a  very  fine  congregation  at  San  Juan  and  quite 
a  large  number  of  members  engaged  in  mining  at  the  different 
camps  in  the  foothills.  I  remained  three  weeks  in  that  region, 
preached  two  and  sometimes  three  times  on  the  Sabbath,  and  dur- 
ing the  week  days  visited  from  house  to  house  and  explained  to 
the  people  the  plans  and  purposes  of  our  University.  All  seemed 
well  pleased  at  the  prospects  before  us,  gave  us  liberal  subscrip- 
tions and  promises  of  better  things  in  the  future.  The  distance 
from  Michigan  Bluff  to  Colfax  is  about  16  miles,  with  nothing 
but  a  pack  trail  for  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  way.  \\'ith  my 
satchel  strapped  on  my  back  I  started  on  that  trail  just  as  the  sun 
was  rising  over  the  distant  mountains,  intending  to  reach  the 
station  in  order  to  board  the  afternoon  train  for  Sacramento. 
About  10  miles  from  the  starting  point  I  came  to  a  suspension 
foot-bridge  spanning  the  North  Fork  of  the  American  River. 
When  about  midway  over  the  bridge  I  cast  my  eyes  down  towards 
the  shore  of  the  river,  and  there  leisurely  walking  up  the  stream 


I20  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

I  saw  a  huge  grizzly  bear,  apparently  searching-  for  fish  in  the 
shallow  pool  where  they  had  been  stranded  in  a  recent  freshet. 
The  old  fellow  had  not  yet  seen  me,  so  I  quickly  secreted  myself 
behind  the  railing  of  the  bridge  and  watched  the  monster  with 
curious  emotions.  He  was  about  lo  rods  down  the  stream,  exact- 
ly where  I  must  go  on  my  way  to  Colfax.  I  watched  the  sun  as 
it  mounted  towards  midday,  and  the  bear  whose  slowness  tor- 
mented me.  At  length  he  slowly  waddled  past  the  end  of  the 
bridge  and  slowly  moved  up  the  river.  Not  daring  to  rise  up,  I 
slowly  crept  on  my  knees  to  the  top  of  the  ladder  that  was  for- 
tunately placed  on  the  lower  side  of  the  bridge.  A  high  boulder 
which  lay  at  the  water's  edge,  hid  for  a  few  minutes  his  bearship 
from  me.  I  slid  quickly  and  quietly  down  the  ladder,  and  climb- 
ing up  a  ledge  of  rocks  about  ten  feet  high  found  myself  in  the 
broad  plain  trail  that  led  to  the  Colfax  station.  I  had  no  means 
of  telling  the  exact  time  of  day,  but  knew  1  had  no  time  to  lose, 
so  I  started  upon  the  run  having  six  miles  yet  to  go  before  reach- 
ing the  railroad.  I  was  pressing  on  with  all  my  might,  had  come 
within  sight  of  the  road,  as  the  whistle  blew  for  the  final  depar- 
ture. In  a  moment  it  swept  around  a  bend  of  the  road,  right  be- 
fore my  eyes.  I  yelled  with  all  my  might,  swinging  my  sachel  over 
my  head.  The  brakes  fell,  the  train  slowed,  I  was  pulled  aboard 
and  arrived  at  Sacramento  before  sun  down. 

After  I  had  related  my  adventures  with  the  old  grizzly,  and 
told  the  passengers  who  1  was  and  in  what  business  engaged, 
they  took  up  a  liberal  collection  for  mc,  expressed  by  resolution 
warm  commendation  of  my  work,  and  hoped  to  see  me  again 
when  I  could  tell  them  that  the  University  had  been  completed. 

I  have  visited  these  points  since  that  day,  and  the  people  of 


ON    THE    PACIFIC   COAST    SINCE    1853  121 

that  region  have  always  been  found  staunch  friends  of  the  Uni- 
versity. Some  of  their  children  have  been  members  of  tlie  stu- 
dent body  at  nearly  every  semester,  and  their  generosity  has  al- 
ways been  shown  in  every  emergency  through  which  it  b.as 
passed.  You  will  look  in  vain  for  purer  or  warmer  friends  than 
has  come  to  us  from  Sacramento  and  the  mining  towns  along  the 
foothills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains.  I  rejoice  to-day  that  it 
fell  to  my  lot  to  plant  some  of  the  seed  from  which  some  of  this 
rich  harvest  has  been  gathered. 


122  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Light  and  Guide  of  Humanity. 

Xo  starlight  of  evening  or  sunlight  of  clay, 
Can  guide  the  lone  pilgrim  along  the  dark  way, 
For  his  thoughts  ever  spurning  his  footsteps  are  turning. 
From  heaven's  highway. 

Tho  his  heart  is  now  fainting  and  ready  to  die, 
He  need  not  despair,  there  is  light  in  the  sky; 
Let  his  faith  now  behold  it  for  Prophets  foretold  it, 
In  ages  gone  by. 

There  is  power  in  its  shining  to  banish  the  night 
Of  all  who  are  willing  to  walk  in  the  light. 
In  its-  beams  there  is  healing  and  heaven  revealing, 
That  gladdens  the  sight. 

Why,  then,  need  we  dwell  in  a  midnight  of  gloom. 
Or  in  the  dark  valley  of  shadows  now  roam. 
While  the  light  here  is  beaming,  its  radiance  is  gleaming, 
To  show  us  our  home. 

From  the  chamber  of  death  it  has  banished  the  gloom, 
And  shed  its  bright  beams  in  the  dark,  silent  tomb ; 
The  chains  now  are  broken  which  gives  us  the  token 
Of  immortal  bloom. 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  I23 

Turn  your  eyes  to  the  heavens  where  gates  stand  ajar, 
And  behold  the  bright  beams  as  they  shine  from  afar, 
They  shine  in  their  glory  and  tell  the  old  story 
Of  Bethlehem's  star. 

In  its  light  we  must  walk  if  we  ever  shall  stand 
On  the  mountain  of  God  in  Immanuel's  land, 
And  see  the  bright  beaming  that  ever  is  streaming 
From  Bethlehem's  star. 

To  millions  more  gone  'twas  the  day-star  on  high, 
Undimmed  as  the  cycle  of  ages  passed  by, 
'Twas  the  light  on  the  pages  of  prophets  and  sages, 
Their  guide  to  the  sky. 


124  LIKE    AND    LABORS    OF    A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

My  First  Acquaintance  With  the  Klamath  Indians. 

IT  was  in  the  fall  of  1861  that  I  received  my  appointment  to 
"*■  the  Humboldt  District  to  take  the  place  of  Father  Leahy,  as 
he  was  familiarly  known  in  the  conference.  He  had  been  on 
the  district  two  years  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  entire 
church.  His  reason  for  leaving  was  not  therefore  on  account 
of  any  dissatisfaction  with  his  official  administration,  but  was, 
as  strange  as  it  may  seem,  purely  a  race  difficulty.  In  passing 
over  the  northern  part  of  the  district,  it  was  impossible  to  reach 
the  appoints  w'ithout  passing  through  the  territory  occupied  by 
the  Klamath  tribe  of  Indians,  who  were  considered  among  the 
most  treacherous  in  all  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  and  the 
most  dreaded  by  the  whites,  except  it  may  be  the  bloody  Mo- 
docks,  who  murdered  Dr.  Thomas  and  George  Canby.  These 
Indians  had  conceived  a  deadly  dislike  of  Father  Leahy,  and 
had  attempted  to  kill  him  by  shooting  at  him  as  he  was  riding 
on  horseback  about  two  miles  before  reaching  the  little  lumber 
camp  called  Trinidad. 

To  escape,  Brother  Leahy  had  been  compelled  to  take  an 
open  boat,  leave  his  horse  at  Trinidad,  and,  sailing  around  the 
headlands  of  the  bay,  reach  his  home  at  Eureka. 

At  the  next  session  of  our  Conference,  of  course  one  of 
the  most  difficult  places  to  fill  was  Humboldt  District.  Of  course, 
the  sober,  grave  and  serious  brother  who  had  just  come  down 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  I25 

from  those  wild  regions  came  in  for  a  storm  of  jokes  and  wit- 
ticisms, both  in  the  Cabinet  and  on  the  floor  of  the  Conference. 
All  seemed  anxious  that  the  Presiding  Elder  of  Humboldt  Dis- 
trict should  locate  as  the  Conference  would  have  no  one  left  to 
preach  on  "justification  by  faith," — a  favorite  subject  of  Broth- 
er Leahy's.  Thus  matters  stood  until  near  the  close  of  the  Con- 
ference, when  Brother  Tonsey,  who  was  then  traveling  the  Napa 
District,  dropped  a  remark  that  seemed  to  let  in  a  little  light  on 
the  perplexing  problem. 

"May  it  please  the  Bishop."  remarked  Brother  Tonsey,  "I 
have  a  man  on  my  district  diat  would  do  to  take  the  place  of 
Brother  Leahy,  if  he  would  be  willing  to  go.  He  has  recently 
come  to  us  from  Oregon  and  is  without  question  better  acquaint- 
ed with  the  Indian  character  than  any  other  man  in  the  Confer- 
ence. He  it  was  that  warned  Dr.  Thomas  and  Gen.  Canby,  when 
they  started  on  their  foolhardy  mission  to  the  Modocks,  a  warn- 
ing, if  it  had  been  followed,  would  doubtless  saved  to  the  country 
the  lives  of  those  two  noble  men.  The  man  I  refer  to  is  now 
preaching  in  X'allejo,  where  he  has  also  been  serving  as  Super- 
mtendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  Solano  County.  His  term 
of  office,  however,  in  that  office  is  now  about  to  expire,  and  while 
I  had  intended  to  send  him  to  Napa  City,  he  would  be  available 
for  Humboldt  District." 

So  the  appointment  was  made,  and  so  the  first  steamer  that 
sailed  for  Eureka  carried  myself  and  family  to  that  delightful 
town. 

After  visiting  Eel  River  X'alley.  and  holding  quarterly  meet- 
ings at  the  various  appointments,  I  mounted  my  horse  for  my 
first  trip  to  the  north,  a  distance  of  over  100  miles  with  but  one 


126  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

house  where  the  traveler  could  find  entertainment  for  the  night. 
That  was  at  "Gold  Bluff,"  where  the  manager  of  a  mining  prop- 
erty owned  In  San  Francisco  resided.  His  name  was  Hall,  and 
when  I  made  known  to  him  my  object  and  mission,  he  received 
me  very  cordially,  and  during  the  long  evening  we  talked  over 
the  troubles  of  my  predecessor  with  the  Indians,  who  resided 
about  six  miles  further  on,  at  the  mouth  of  Klamath  River. 
When  I  was  about  to  retire  for  the  night,  I  fortunately  discov- 
ered the  grounds  of  his  confidence.  While  sitting  with  my 
back  towards  a  door  that  led  into  a  side  room,  I  saw  the  door 
softly  open  and  two  little  black  eyes  peering  into  our  room.  I 
knew  at  once  to  whom  they  belonged,  for  I  had  learned  before 
that  mine  host  was  living  with  a  Klamath  Indian  woman.  But 
I  said  nothing  and  went  to  bed. 

In  the  morning,  I  requested  Mr.  Hall  to  give  me  any  in- 
struction or  advice  that  I  might  need  in  dealing  with  the  Indians. 
I  informed  him  of  my  experience  with  the  Rogue  River  tribe 
and  also  of  others  living  along  the  shores  of  the  Willamette  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Calapora  Mountains,  and  my  ability  to  talk 
to  them  in  their  own  jargon,  which  was  common  to  all  the  tribes 
\\'est  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Mr.  Hall  informed  me  that  he 
thought  I  would  have  no  difficulty,  for,  said  he,  the  Indians  are 
a  good  deal  like  other  men  in  the  world,  open,  sociable,  generous 
men,  who  were  willing  to  treat  others  as  they  desired  others  to 
treat  them,  I  told  him  that  was  my  religion,  and  I  had  prac- 
ticed it  all  my  life,  even  to  the  utmost  of  "whatsoever  ye  would,*' 
as  the  Master  had  said. 

He  further  told  me  that  the  first  question  the  Indians  would 
ask  me,  in  all  probability,  would  be  "Wake  ciimtux  Hall?"  or, 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SIXCE    1853  I27 

in  English,  "Do  you  known  Hall?"  He  then  said,  '"Vou  are  at 
liberty  to  enlarge  on  that  subject  as  you  may  think  the  occasion 
demands,  for  really  after  our  visit  last  evening,  I  feel  better  ac- 
quainted with  you  tiian  I  did  with  your  predecessor  after  he  had 
been  my  guest  two  years."  I  thanked  him  for  his  compliment, 
and  expressed  the  hope  that  the  fellowship  that  auspiciously  be- 
gan might  continue  to  the  end.  I  saw  no  more  of  the  "two  black 
eyes,"  and  concluded  to  wait  for  a  more  favorable  occasion  be- 
fore seeking  an  introduction. 

In  about  30  or  40  minutes  I  rode  into  the  little  village  at 
the  Klamath  River,  where  I  found  about  15  or  20  Indians  as- 
sembled to  receive  me.  They  had  evidently  been  advised  of  my 
coming,  and  what  their  feelings  or  intentions  might  be  I  could 
only  conjecture.  I  saluted  them  in  the  jargon,  "Vilayhauui  six," 
"How  do  you  do,"  but  I  fancied  their  responses  were  not  very 
cordial.  They  met  me,  however,  with  the  inquiry  about  my  ac- 
quaintanceship with  Hall,  and  after  my  assurance  that  he  was 
my  particular  friend,  they  seemed  a  little  more  friendly.  Their 
canoe  to  ferry  me  over  the  river  was  soon  in  readiness,  and  after 
depositing  niy  blankets  therein,  tied  the  lariat  to  the  bridle  and  in 
five  minutes  we  stood  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river.  Hand- 
ing them  a  silver  dollar,  the  price  of  ferrying  me  over,  I  mounted, 
my  horse  and  hastened  towards  Crescent  City,  a  distance  of  about 
40  miles  through  a  dense  forest,  where  I  arrived  about  one  hour 
before  sundown.  About  midway  between  the  river  and  the 
place  of  destination,  I  met  in  the  narrow  trail  a  company  of  five 
Indians,  all  armed  with  bows  antl  arrows,  but  on  saluting  them 
they  gave  me  a  loutl  whoop  and  returned  m\-  salute,  and  we 
were  quickly  out  of  each  other's  sight. 


128  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF    A    PIONEER 

I  remained  about  six  weeks  in  the  northern  part  of  the  dis- 
trict, hokhng  quarterly  meetings,  and  aiding  Brother  Cleveland, 
the  preacher  at  Crescent  City,  in  raising-  money  for  the  purpose 
of  making  improvements  upon  his  church,  and  in  holding  funeral 
services  over  two  members  of  his  congregation  and  uniting  in 
marriage  three  others.  Early  on  a  pleasant  Monday  morning 
we  took  our  departure  for  our  home,  about  no  miles  distant,  and 
only  one  white  man  in  the  entire  distance.  I  braced  myself  for 
the  weary  journey,  and  with  a  warm  heart,  and  tireless  zeal,  sing- 
ing as  I  went, 

■■\\'e  lodge  here  in  tents  below. 
And  gladly  wander  to  and  fro. 
Till  we  our  Canaan  gain." 

1  had  planned  to  arrive  at  the  crossing  of  the  river  so  as  to 
get  (H-er  in  time  to  ride  on  to  Hall's  and  stop  for  the  r'ght,  but 
when  arriving  on  the  blufif  where  I  could  look  down  upon  the 
feiry,  to  my  consternation,  not  a  boat  could  be  seen.  For  the 
first  time  since  starting  on  my  northern  trip,  I  felt  completely 
nonplussed,  but  ])ulling  myself  together  as  best  I  could  I  dis- 
mounted from  mv  horse,  led  him  back  over  the  hill,  tied  him  to 
an  oak  grub,  and  went  back  to  reconnoitre.  Slowly  the  moments 
*pas.sed  away,  and  when  the  sun  went  down  behind  the  western 
hills,  and  twilight  began  to  fold  the  forest  in  sombre  gloom,  not 
a  solitary  Indian  had  yet  appeared  upon  the  scene.  You  can 
well  interpret  my  emotions  while  standing  alone  in  the  midst  of 
a  dense  fore.st,  not  another  white  man  nearer  than  six  or  seven 
miles,  and  surrounded  by  a  numerous  horde  of  savages,  of  whose 
feelings  and  purposes  I  was,  as  yet,  unacfjuaintcd,  but  whose  in- 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1 853  1 29 

stinct  of  dislike,  not  to  say  treachery  and  cruelty,  had  been  so 
recently  manifested  towards  my  predecessor. 

A  man  feels  some  relief,  even  when  the  probabilities  arc 
against  him,  but  when  he  fintls  that  all  possibilities  are  gone  he 
can  find  no  refuge  but  in  despair.  One  writer  has  said,  "that  an 
all-wise  and  omnipotent  God  is  the  usual  and  convenient  refuge 
of  the  weak  and  foolish,"  but  if  ever  I  felt  weak  and  insufificient 
it  was  at  that  supreme  moment,  so,^  crying  out  from  the  depths 
of  despair,  "O  my  God,  help  me!''  I  felt  my  mind  quieted  with 
a  sudden  gleam  of  hope,  and  quickly  settled  down  to  the  rest 
of  the  night.  The  calmness  of  mind  under  the  circumstances 
was  a  great  surprise  to  me.  Tying  my  horse  to  a  little  tree  so  as 
to  enable  him  to  graze  on  the  luxuriant  grass,  I  spread  my  blan- 
kets down  under  the  sheltering  branches  of  a  fir  tree,  entered 
the  domains  of  ^Morpheus,  and  prepared  my  niind  to  revel  in  the 
perplexing  uncertainties  of  dreamland. 

About  9  o'clock  my  quickened  sense  of  hearing  detected  th»; 
stealthy  tread  of  human  feet  near  my  bed,  and  before  I  could  un- 
cover my  face  a  voice  cried  out,  "Hyas  close  nioas  a  moas,"  "A 
very  good  horse.  The  moon  was  just  rising  over  the  distant 
mountains,  and  springing  upon  my  feet.  I  saw  an  Indian  close 
to  my  horse  and  holding  the  lariat  in  his  hand.  I  quickly  saluted 
him,  and  when  he  returned  my  salute,  I  felt  quite  well  assured 
of  my  safety.  He  beckoned  me  to  follow  him.  which,  of  course, 
I  did,  when,  leading  me  a  few  hundred  yards  towards  the  river, 
he  pointed  towards  a  large  wigwam  and  motioned  me  to  enter. 
Of  course,  I  didn't  stop  to  debate  the  question  with  him,  but 
crawled  into  the  open  door,  which  consisted  of  a  round  hole 
about  2  1-2  or  3  feet  in  diameter.     Inside  the  room  was  about 


I  ^O  I-lFE    AND    LARORS   Ol^    A    PIONEER 

lo  or  12  feet  across,  and  nearly  circular  in  shape  and  dug  about 
two  feet  below  the  surface.  In  the  center  of  this  excavation  was 
a  blazing  fire,  around  which  were  seated  four  Indians,  engaged 
in  roasting  salmon  for  their  supper.  They  pointed  to  a  bear 
skin  and  each  one  uttered  a  low  grunt,  which  1  was  glad  to  in- 
terpret. "'We  are  happy  to  meet  you  here."  I  knew  very  well 
the  crisis  had  come,  for  I  understood  that  the  Indian  will  never 
molest  one  with  whom  he  has  shared  his  meal.  That  refinement 
of  hypocrisy,  savages  the  world  over  are  never  guilty  of.  So  I 
waited  patiently  for  the  salmon  to  roast,  and  watched  the  move- 
ments of  the  Indians  with  eager  solitude.  I  had  never  tried  to 
cat  salmon  without  salt.  and.  in  fact,  was  not  very  fond  of  it  in 
any  form.  I  hit  now  I  was  not  quite  certain  how  it  would  taste. 
Presently  one  of  the  Indians,  selecting  a  nice  piece  about  the  size 
of  my  hand,  deliberately  placed  it  upon  a  clean  chip  and  reaching 
it  towards  we  said.  '"Likee  salmon?"  Gnawing  hunger  may  have 
had  something  to  do  in  the  matter,  but  1  can  assure  you  that  ev- 
ery particle  of  the  chipload  of  fish  went  down  with  a  relish. 
When  I  reached  out  the  chip  for  another  piece,  all  the  Indians 
gave  a  loud  grunt,  and  one  of  them,  reaching  over,  gave  me  a 
poke  in  the  side,  as  nuich  as  to  say,  "Big  belly." 

But  liow  to  get  out  of  the  wigwam,  after  I  had  satisfied  my 
desire  for  salmon,  was  now  to  be  settled.  The  Indian  who  had 
conducted  me  down,  as  soon  as  I  had  entered,  sat  down  in  the 
door  and  during  the  entire  evening  without  moving  from  his 
position.  I  had  left  my  horse  on  the  hill,  tied  to  the  oak  scrub, 
and  I  felt  anxious  to  know  if  it  was  still  there.  What  if  this 
had  been  a  ruse  on  their  part  to  kccj)  me  away,  while  others 
made  away  with  my  horse,  saddle  and  Ijlankcts.     So  I  intimated 


ON    THK    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  13! 

a?  plainly  as  I  could  that  I  would  like  to  go,  but  he  kept  his 
post.  At  length  I  got  upon  iny  feet,  pointed  to  the  door,  but  he 
seemed  not  to  understand  niy  meaning.  At  length,  growing 
desperate,  I  made  a  rush  up  to  his  very  face,  when  he  quickly 
slipped  aside  and  I  as  quickly  slipped  out  into  the  open  air,  and 
hastened  up  the  hill  with  all  possible  dispatch.  I  found  my  horse 
still  unmolested  and  all  my  other  belongings  safe  and  sound. 

It  was  now  well  on  towards  midnight,  so,  spreading  out  my 
blankets,  petting  for  a  moment  my  faithful  steed,  I  laid  myself 
down  and  slept  the  sleep  of  the  just.  The  sun  was  well  up  in 
the  blue  sky  when  1  arose  in  the  morning  from  my  couch,  and 
descended  to  the  ferry,  where,  after  paying  the  Indians  one  dol- 
lar for  taking  me  over,  I  mounted  my  noble  steed  and  was  quick- 
ly at  the  hosi)itable  fireside  of  my  friend  Hall,  where  I  remained 
until  the  following  morning,  when  I  hastened  on  my  journey, 
and  the  next  day  was  relating  the  incidents  of  my  first  trip  on 
the  Humboldt  District.  In  my  next  trip  you  will  find  a  strange 
admixture  of  romance,  comedy  and  tragedy. 


132  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF    A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Elected  Chief  of  the  Klamath  Indians — Provided  a  Wife — 
How  I  Escaped  From  Polygamy. 

IT  was  about  the  first  of  June,  i<S63,  when  I  entered  upon  my 
second  year  on  the  Humboldt  District,  prepared  to  take  my 
second  trip  to  the  north,  which  took  me  as  far  as  Smith  river 
valley  and  Coos  Bay.  Early  one  bright  and  balmy  Wednesday 
morning  I  left  my  family  at  Eureka,  expecting  to  be  absent  about 
six  or  seven  weeks.  My  road  led  me  around  the  upper  bend  of 
the  Bay,  through  the  quiet  little  village  of  Areata,  across  the 
South  Branch  of  the  Trinity  river,  which  I  forded,  and  then  on 
to  Trinidad  where  I  entered  once  more  the  territory  of  the  Klam- 
ath Indians  for  the  seconfl  time.  Passing  on  about  fifteen  miles 
when  I  drew  up  at  the  hospitable  dwelling  of  my  friend  Hall, 
where  I  found  him  and  his  dusky  companion  apparently  occupying 
the  same  relation  to  each  other  as  when  I  was  here  the  previous 
year.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  at  this  point,  that  it  was  no  un- 
common thing  for  the  mountaineers  of  Oregon  and  California, 
who  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  natives  of  the  country,  to  co-habit 
together  a  man  and  wife,  a  practice  which  was  not  only  tolerated 
but  encouraged  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  throughout  the 
entire  Northwest.  But  in  justice  to  the  Protestant  missionaries 
I  will  add,  that  whenever  a  settler  asked  for  membership  in  the 
church,  before  he  was  granted  that  privilege  he  was  required  to 
/publicly  renounce  that  relation  and  become  man  and  wife.  Others, 


ON    THK    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  I33 

however,  were  not  so  particular,  regarding  this  social  relation 
more  as  a  matter  of  commerce  than  one  of  religious  duty. 

This,  my  second  visit  to  friend  Hall,  soon  revealed  to  me  a 
change  in  the  feelings  of  the  entire  household,  including,  I  was 
glad  to  find,  both  the  dogs  and  tlie  little  squaw.  All  seemed 
genial  and  friendly,  and  seemed  to  indicate  something  good  to 
come.  As  soon  as  we  had  finished  the  evening  meal,  which  con- 
sisted of  well-cooked  salmon  and  home-made  bread,  we  sat  down 
before  the  blazing  fire  and  spent  a  social  evening  which  run  close 
up  to  the  hour  of  midnight.  Hall  informed  me  that  the  Indians 
at  the  ferry  thought  that  I  was  hyac  cloas  tilicum  (a  very  good 
man)  and  all  danger  had  now  passed  away. 

In  the  morning,  however,  when  I  arrived  at  the  ferry,  where 
I  found  a  large  crowd  of  Indians  from  the  upper  settlement.  I 
felt  a  little  suspicious,  as  Hall  had  not  told  me  of  any  thing  un- 
usual among  them.  I  soon  learned  that  they  had  been  called  to- 
gether in  order  to  elect  a  new  chief,  as  their  present  chief  was 
very  old  and  decrejiit  and  would  soon  be  gone  beyond  the  great 
river. 

I  found  these  Klamath  Indians  in  this  crisis  in  their  tribal 
affairs,  just  as  uncivilized  men  have  been  in  all  ages  and  na- 
tions, more  desirous  of  securing  physical  than  moral  qualities  in 
order  to  build  up  and  strengthen  their  own  national  or  tribal  for- 
tunes. It  remained  for  Christianity  to  bring  into  this  world  the 
ethical  forms  and  forces  of  life  to  establish  and  perpetuate  the 
progressive  possibilities  that  resided  in  the  scheme  of  human  re- 
demption by  the  Cross  of  Calvary.  You  may  call  this  a  refine- 
ment of  spiritual  philosophy  if  you  please,  but  it  was  the  thrill 


134  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    TIONEER 

that  went  quivering  along  the  world's  spiritual  life-being  when 
down  from  the  cross  fell  the  prophetic  words  "It  is  finished." 

It  was  very  plain  to  be  seen  that  interest  of  the  entire  tribe 
was  centered  upon  the  selection  of  a  new  chief,  and  in  a  few  mo- 
ments after  my  arrival  they  j^araded  the  young  man  whom  they 
apparently  had  been  training  for  that  high  position.  He  was,  I 
should  judge,  about  20  years  of  age,  well  formed  and  with  a 
pleasing  countenance.  From  what  soon  transpired  I  should  infer 
that  the  Indians'  supreme  test  of  fitness  had  not  yet  been  ap- 
plied to  him,  for  they  at  once  formed  a  circle  around  me,  they 
led  him  up  near  to  where  I  was  standing  and  at  once  exclaimed, 
"Hello,  there.  You  like  to  wrestle?"  They  at  once  enlarged  the 
circle  and  inclosed  the  young  man  and  myself  within  it  and  there 
was  no  escape.  To  run  was  impossible,  so  to  wrestle  was  the  only 
alternative.  So  I  threw  off  my  coat  and  hat,  walked  into  the  cen- 
ter of  the  ring,  and  squaring  myself  in  true  pugilistic  style,  mo- 
tioned the  young  man  to  come  on.  He  seemed  eager  for  the  en- 
counter, and  the  best  of  feeling  seemed  to  pervade  the  entire 
crowd.  We  seemed  about  equal  in  size  and  weight,  but  there 
was  one  secret  I  possessed  that  he  had  not  yet  learned,  and  that 
was  the  difference  between  tiesh  and  muscle  made  by  eating  sal- 
mon witiiout  salt,  and  of  that  accumulated  by  the  use  of  animal 
and  vegetable  food.  The  first  was  flabby  and  unwieldly ;  the 
second  was  .solid,  elastic  and  substantial.  1  was  not  long  in 
putting  my  superior  knowledge  into  practice,  for  in  less  than 
five  minutes  1  had  tumbled  the  young  fellow  over,  and  once 
threw  him  scpiarely  over  my  shoulder  and  letting  him  down  with 
a  terrible  tliud.  This  seemed  to  decide  the  contest,  for  running 
up  to  the  young  man  they  hustled  him  about,  all  the  time  ex- 


ON    TIIR    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCK    1853  I35 

claiming,  "You  no  chief!  Yon  no  chief!"  All  the  time  cryin^if, 
"He  our  chief!  Me  our  chief!"  pointinj^  to  me,  and  dancinji^ 
like  mad ! 

The  man  seemed  to  take  it  all  in  good  humor,  thinking  that 
;a  change  of  dynasty  might  be  of  some  benefit,  even  to  the  Tribe 
of  Klamath  Indians.  The  whole  matter  was  quickly  arranged 
very  much  as  it  seemed  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  entire  tribe, 
including  the  young  man  who  had  been  defeated,  he  thinking, 
perhaps,  that  when  I  was  inaugurated  1  would  make  him  my 
Prime  Minister. 

As  soon  as  the  election  was  over,  and  the  matter  was  finally 
settled  that  I  was  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  chief  as  soon  as 
he  should  pass  away,  the  Indians  ferried  me  and  my  horse  over 
the  river,  and  I  mounted  and  speeding  my  way  over  the  hills 
and  through  the  forest,  arrived  at  Crescent  City  about  sundown. 
I  spent  four  weeks  attending  my  quarterly  meetings  in  the  upper 
portion  of  the  district,  and  then,  once  more  prepared  to  retrace 
my  steps  to  my  home  at  Eureka.  Taking  leave  of  Brother  Cleve- 
land and  his  kind-hearted  people,  and  by  their  aid  measuring 
correctly  the  state  of  the  tides  along  the  ocean  beach,  I  arrived 
at  an  early  hour  in  the  afternoon  at  the  crossing  of  the  river, 
where  I  found  that  during  my  absence  the  old  chief  had  died, 
and,  consequently,  the  last  obstacle  to  my  ascending  the  throne 
had  disappeared.  1  was  about  to  congratulate  myself  on  my 
good  fortune,  when,  alas,  I  found  that  my  troubles  had  but  just 
commenced.  I  learned,  when  too  late,  that  the  old  savins-  was 
true,  that  "uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  a  crown."  The  In- 
dians were  greatly  delighted  to  see  me,  and  appeared  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  know  when   I   would  come  back  and  "ciimtux 


136  LIFE    AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONUER 

ua  iia,"  wliicli,  in  white  man's  vocabulary,  means,  "Deliver  my 
inaugural  address."  I  told  them  1  intended  to  return  in  about 
4  or  5  weeks.  They  seemed  greatly  delighted  at  the  prospect, 
and.  coming  close  to  me,  all  yelled,  with  all  their  might,  "Nyas 
close," — very  good.  Then  in  a  milder  tone  of  voice,  they  in- 
formed me  that  when  I  came  back  they  would  bring  down  for 
me  one  liyas  Clase  clulchaiiiitii, — a  very  good  wife.  Oh,  hor- 
rors !  I  had  now  put  my  foot  squarely  into  it,  and  how  it  was 
to  be  got  out  was  to  me  a  profound  mystery.  But,  believing 
that  man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity,  without  regard  to 
"race  or  color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude,"  I  held  my 
peace  and  waited  developments.  I  soon  took  leave  of  my  tribe, 
and  went  on  to  my  friend  Hall's  and  spent  the  night  with  him 
and  his  squaw,  both  of  whom  seemed,  by  their  pleasant  quizzical 
looks,  to  know  more  than  they  were  willing  to  tell. 

Usually,  after  a  tiresome  ride  of  40  or  50  miles,  in  five  or 
six  hours,  1  gladly  welcome  the  time  devoted  to  rest,  and  find 
purest  pleasure  in  meditations  and  dreams.  But  now,  all  seemed 
mysterious  and  perplexing,  and  my  mind  seemed  agitated  and 
bewildered.  I  could  see  no  way  by  which  the  conflicting  inter- 
ests of  all  parties  could  be  reconciled,  and  a  slight  mistake  might 
plunge  me  into  a  tragical  disaster,  unable,  therefore,  to  be  enter- 
tained my.sclf,  or  to  entertain  others.  I  concluded  that  the  safest 
course  to  pursue  was  to  turn  my  steps  towards  the  quiet,  peace- 
ful shelter  of  my  own  home.  So,  as  soon  as  the  sunlight  had 
proclaimed  the  advent  of  morning,  I  was  up  and  in  the  saddle, 
measuring  off  with  rapid  strides  the  40  or  50  intervening  miles. 
When  the  sun  had  crossed  the  meridian  about  two  hours,  I  drew 


ON    THK   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  I37 

rein  at  my  own  gate,  and  bright  eyes  and  shrill  voices  proclaimed 
me  welcome  to  a  pleasant  fireside. 

In  a  few  days  a  message  was  placed  in  my  hands  from  Dr. 
Thomas  of  San  Francisco,  Editor  of  the  "California  Christian 
Advocate,"  requesting  me  to  come  down  to  the  city  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  meet  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University  of  the 
Pacific,  but  did  not  state  definitely  the  purpose  for  which  I  was 
desired  to  meet  them.  So  another  mystery  must  now  be  adde>l 
to  those  already  perplexing  me,  and  seemingly  casting  over  the 
future  a  still  deeper  gloom  than  ever  before.  I  had  but  two 
words  to  express  my  emotions  and  purpose,  and  exclaiming, 
"Who  knows?"  I  boarded  the  first  vessel  that  went  out  of  Hum- 
boldt Bay,  and  sailed  for  the  Golden  Gate. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  University  a  few  days 
after  my  arrival  in  the  city,  I  was  elected  "Field  Agent  of  the 
University  of  the  Pacific."  My  work  was  of  a  somewhat  special 
character,  being  devoted  to  the  selling  of  a  tract  of  land  consist- 
ing of  400  acres,  extending  from  the  Guadalupe  River  on  the 
northeast  to  the  far-famed  Alameda  Road  on  the  southwest. 
This  tract  of  land  was  situated  about  midway  between  the  City  of 
San  Jose  and  the  town  of  Santa  Clara,  and  had  been  purchased 
by  the  Trustees  with  the  intenton  of  removing  the  site  of  the 
University  to  a  more  central  and  convenient  location.  It  was 
a  part  of  an  old  Spanish  grant,  and  the  first,  I  believe,  that  was 
confirmed  in  Alta  California,  after  the  treaty  of  "Guadalupe 
Hidalgo."  I  entered  at  once  upon  my  work,  prosecuted  it  with 
diligence,  lost  my  chieftainship  of  the  Klamath  Indians,  "clasc 
clulchmun,"  which  I  doubt  not  would  have  been  an  ornament  to 
a  Turkish  harem. 


138  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A   PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

On  Visiting'  the  Old  Homestead  After  Thirty-five  Years'  Absence. 

By  the  cottage  that  stands  on  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
We  pensively  pause  in  our  manhood  to-day, 
And  the  breeze  and  the  sunshine  refreshes  us  still, 
As  they  greeted  our  youth  ere  we  wandered  away. 

We  hail  thee!  thou  home  of  our  boyhood's  delight. 
And  sigh  as  we  think  of  the  years  that  have  flown, 
While  the  unchanging  beauties  that  beam  on  our  sight, 
Tell  of  infinite  Love,  whose  direction  we  own. 

As  the  bright  golden  pinions  of  fancy  now  bring 
The  beautiful  pictures  that  gladdened  the  past, 
Our  spirit  will  sweetly  and  tenderly  cling 
To  joys  that  we  knew  were  too  holy  to  last. 

We  are  listening  once  more  to  the  sweet  thrilling  song 
That  fell  from  the  lips  of  a  mother  so  dear. 
And  while  the  soft  music  is  floating  along. 
We  feel  she  is  truly  and  lovingly  near. 

How  brave  were  the  fathers  and  mothers  who  wrought 
To  conquer  the  lands  where  we  flourish  to-day. 
How  fierce  were  the  battles  their  courage  once  fought. 
To  keep  the  sweet  hopes  that  now  beam  on  our  way. 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  I39 

Our  memory  forever  shall  cherish  the  sod 

That  covers  with  green  their  beloved  remains, 

And  ever  our  souls  will  be  grateful  to  God 

That  the  blood  of  such  heroes  now  flows  in  our  veins. 


140  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF  A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A  New  Enterprise, 

fX  inaugurating  a  new  enterprise,  the  success  of  which  de- 
pends  to  a  large  extent  upon  the  integrity  and  stability  of 
different  agencies,  not  clearly,  and  fully  moved  by  a  kindred  im- 
pulse and  an  equal  intelligence,  men  must  be  ready  for  emer- 
gencies that  may,  at  almost  any  moment,  shift  responsibilities 
from  one  place  to  another,  and  from  one  class  of  environments 
to  those  entirely  dissimilar,  botii  in  nature  and  potency.  This  is 
true,  especially  true,  when  our  ideals  have  been  created  for  dif- 
ferent j^urposes,  and  by  habits  of  thought.  In  no  part  of  our 
country  has  this  been  revealed  more  than  in  California  in  the 
early  years  of  its  settlement  by  the  Americans.  What  it  is  to- 
day, is,  to  a  very  great  extent,  the  harvest  that  sprung  from  the 
seed  that  was  sown  hut  yesterday.  Distinct  and  j)Ositive  nation- 
ality is  usually  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  and  the  history  of  the 
race  shows  that  centuries  have  been  needed  to  give  such  char- 
acter and  form.  But  here  we  have  been  expected  to  create  a 
nation  in  a  day. 

(Jn  coming  down  from  the  mountains,  where  I  had  realized 
marked  success  in  collecting  money  to  flefray  incidental  expenses, 
such  as  the  payment  of  the  salaries  of  teachers  and  local  agent, 
J  gave  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  a  frank  statement  as  to  the  poHcy 
I  thought  ought  to  be  pursued  in  order  to  attain  the  object  for 
which  I  had  been  elected  field  agent.    I  gave  it  as  my  solemn  con- 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  I4I 

viction  that  if  wc  can  make  the  original  purpose  for  which  we 
had  purchased  the  400  acres  of  land,  called  the  "University 
Grounds,"  we  must  enlist  the  ministers  in  the  work  of  taking 
up  collections,  while  the  Agents  should  devote  their  first  atten- 
tion to  the  selling  of  the  lands,  that  the  work  of  prospecting 
and  developing  mines  was  in  the  hands  of  speculators  and  men 
without  families  who  had  put  oflf  to  a  more  convenient  season 
the  work  of  rearing  and  educating  a  family. 

Fortunately,  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  the  time  had  at  its 
head  several  men  of  practical  business  experience  and  enter- 
prise, who  worked  cheerfully  and  earnestly  to  carry  out  this 
policy.  Hon.  Annis  Merrill  of  San  Francisco  was  the  President 
and  Dr.  Hayden  of  Santa  Clara  was  the  Secretary  of  the  Board, 
the  former  a  lawyer  and  a  man  of  considerable  wealth  and  in- 
fluence in  business  circles,  the  other  a  practical  farmer  and  hor- 
ticulturist, one  of  the  Pioneers  in  fruit  growing  in  the  Santa 
Clara  Valley.  Among  the  ministers  we  could  name  Edward 
Banister,  M.  C.  Briggs,  S.  D.  Symonds,  D.  A.  Dryden,  T.  H. 
Linx  and  others.  In  fact,  we  may  say  that  without  exception 
the  entire  California  Conference  at  the  time  stood  undivided  and 
firm  in  support  of  the  policy  then  adopted. 

So  the  first  stage  of  the  work  was  over,  the  inspiration  of 
the  Master  resting  upon  all;  and  with  clear  vision  and  undoubt- 
ing  trust  all  seemed  willing  and  anxious  to  move  forward.  The 
local  Agent,  aided  by  the  county  Surveyor,  proceeded  to  the  work 
of  laying  out  the  University  Grounds  into  lots  and  blocks  of 
suitable  dimensions.  While  the  field  Agent,  armed  with  the 
same  free  pass  presented  to  him  at  Sacramento,  went  forth  into 
our  beautiful  valleys  to  induce  the  people  to  purchase  the  same 


142  life;    and    i.AT.ORS    OF   A    PIONEEIR 

upon  the  favorable  terms  offered  them  by  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
which  was  one-ciuarter  down,  and  the  balance  in  three  equal  an- 
nral  payments. 

My  trip  into  the  country  to  carry  into  effect  the  newly 
adopted  plan  of  operation  was  to  the  upper  j^ortion  of  San 
Joaquin  county.  The  late  Warner  Oliver,  who  at  that 
time  was  living  near  Lodi,  threw  himself  with  his  accustomed 
zeal  into  the  work,  and  went  with  me  from  house  to  house,  un- 
til we  had,  in  five  days,  sold  between  five  and  six  thousand  dol- 
lars worth  of  land,  and  collected  one  hundred  dollars  in  money. 
Rev.  J.  11.  Maddoc  was  our  preacher  at  Stockton  City,  where, 
on  Sunday  we  held  a  grand  rally  for  the  University,  which  add- 
ed to  our  cash  credits  another  one  hundred  dollars. 

T  need  not  give  in  detail  the  various  places  I  visited,  but 
at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees  all  concurred  in  the  opinion 
that  the  success  of  our  land  venture  was  practically  assured.  It 
was  seen  very  plainly  that  the  condition  of  society  at  the  time 
we  changed  our  method  of  operation  appealed  so  obviously  au'l 
directly  to  the  wants  and  ability  both  of  the  people  and  of  the 
University  that  all  doubts  and  uncertainties  seemed  to  disappear, 
and  without  a  discordant  note  the  Trustees  said  to  the  Agents, 
"Say  unto  the  people,  'Go  forward.'  "  The  preachers  also  cheer- 
fully anrl  efficiently  co-operated  with  those  who  were  more  di- 
rectly engaged  in  the  field  work,  anrl  we  found  that  there  had 
been  sold  during  the  year  twenty  thousand  dollars  worth  of  land, 
mostly  in  single  lots  but  in  one  or  two  instances,  in  larger 
amounts.  Such  was  the  interest  awakened  that  at  one  time  a 
company  was  quietly  formed  to  buy  up  all  that  was  left  at  the 


ON    THE    I'ACU'IC    COAST    SINCE    1853  143 

price  we  had  been  selling  at  retail.  Fortunately,  we  escaped  the 
trap,  and  still  live. 

Since  that  day  it  has  appeared  in  several  instances  that  the 
desire  to  smother  our  plans  for  building  up  and  establishing  the 
University  was  altogether  more  widespread  and  determined 
than  at  first  beliexed,  and  the  note  of  warning  which  we  sounded 
was  none  too  earnest  and  none  too  often  repeated.  Local  preju- 
dices and  rivalries  were  especially  difficult  to  handle,  being  quite 
impersonal,  and  unscrupulous  in  the  use  of  expedients  for  shift- 
ting  of  responsibilities.  The  experiences  of  personal  friendship, 
which  only  designed  to  encourage  zeal  and  activity  in  so  desir- 
able a  work,  was  allowed  to  influence  some  real  friends  of  the 
cause  in  their  relation  to  each  other. 

It  was  at  this  stage  of  the  work  that  the  Trustees  were 
called  together  in  order  to  give  the  whole  field  a  thorough  and 
careful  investigation,  disclosing  the  fact  that  to  retreat  w^as  a 
virtual  impossibility,  and  our  President  of  the  Board,  Annis 
Merrill,  sounded  the  key  note  when,  in  summing  up  the  case, 
exclaimed  in  the  words  of  a  celebrated  captain,  "The  old  guard 
can  die  but  it  never  surrenders."  The  fact  of  the  matter  was, 
we  had  carried  ourselves  at  one  lofty  bound  so  far  into  the  realm 
of  success,  that  the  easiest  thing  to  do  was  to  draw  the  cords  a 
little  tighter,  let  the  locks  of  our  strength  grow,  take  our  head 
from  the  lap  of  a  fascinating  Delila,  bid  defiance  to  the  whoh 
tribe  of  Philistines,  and  win.     And  that  is  just  what  we  did. 

A    NARROW    ESCAl'K.      A   DREAM    THAT   COMES  TO   PASS. 

I  had  spent  about  three  weeks  in  Butte  and  Colusa  counties 
and  had  met  with  gratifying  success,  especially  in  and  about 
Chico,  the  home  of  General  Bidwell,  one  of  the  most  wealthy  and 


144  '-II'E    -^><'^    LABORS   OK    A    PIONEER 

influential  men  then  in  the  State  of  CaHfornia,  and  then  stand- 
ing high  in  the  estimation  c  5  National  politicians.  The  cause  of 
education,  on  this  coast  especially,  took  a  very  firm  hold  upon 
his  mind,  and  enlisted  his  cordial  and  earnest  co-operation.  He 
had  learned  of  our  efforts  to  establish  tlic  University  of  the 
Pacific,  and  when  I  called  upon  him  invited  me  to  remain  over- 
night and  explain  the  matter  more  fully.  This  I  gladly  consent- 
ed to  do,  and  his  practical  mind  during  our  conversation  made 
many  valuable  suggestions  in  relation  to  the  matter. 

In  the  morning,  when  I  departed  for  San  Francisco,  he  re- 
quested me  to  call  again  and  to  be  sure  to  keep  him  posted  in  ref- 
erence to  the  success  of  our  land  scheme,  and  tell  the  Trustees 
to  be  of  good  heart,  and  they  might  even  depend  on  his  co-op- 
eration. On  arriving  in  the  city,  I  went  at  once  to  the  home 
of  the  President  of  the  Board,  told  him  of  my  visit  to  Chico, 
and'  the  pleasant  words  of  cheer  from  Mr.  Bidwell,  and  the 
general  feeling  of  good  will  among  the  people  at  large.  He 
listened  calmly  and  attentively  to  my  statement,  and  then  re- 
plied: "Brother  Hines,  I  am  sorry  to  be  compelled  to  state  that 
J  feel  almost  certain  that  we  have  serious  trouble  before  us."  1 
sat  down  completely  stupefied.  After  a  moment,  I  replied,  "Well, 
now  what  has  happened?''  He  replied  that  a  statement  just  re- 
ceived from  Messrs.  Newhall  &  Polhemus,  the  parties  from 
whom  we  had  purchased  the  land,  revealed  the  fact  that  we  had 
defaulted  in  our  payments  and  they  wished  the  matter  attended 
to  at  once. 

After  talking  the  matter  over  with  the  President  of  the 
Board,  he  and  Bro.  Briggs,  who  was  present,  thought  that  I,  as 
Agent  of  the  Board,  had  better  call  on  Mr.  Newhall  and  ascer- 


ON    THE    PACII^IC    COAST    SINCE;    1853  I45 

tain,  if  possible,  just  how  the  matter  stood.  So,  armed  witli  a 
letter  of  introduction,  T  called  on  H.  M.  Xewhall  &  Co.,  auction- 
eers and  commission  merchants,  Sansome  street.  I  deliberately 
walked  into  the  office  and  handed  Mr.  Newhall  my  letter  of  intro- 
duction. He  eyed  it  for  a  moment,  looked  at  me  with  a  search- 
ing glance,  then  blurted  out:  "Well,  well,  that  looks  a  little  sus- 
picious. One  of  the  best  beggars  in  California,  and  the  best 
preacher  in  the  United  States,  that  surely  ought  to  be  sufficient. 
And  now,  what  do  you  want?"  I  told  him  that  it  would  be  at 
least  two  weeks  before  the  Board  of  Trustees  could  be  got  to- 
gether, and  I  wanted  his  promise  that  we  should  have  that  length 
of  time  in  which  to  arrange  the  matter.  Mr.  Newhall  gave  me 
his  promise,  and  the  next  train  took  me  to  Santa  Clara.  I  w^nt 
to  see  our  Secretary,  Dr.  Hayden,  who  informed  me  that  the 
Local  Agent  had  just  sent  in  his  resignation.  I  then  informed 
him  of  the  condition  of  matters  in  the  City,  and  throwing  up  his 
hands  he  exclaimed  "What  next?"  I  told  him  never  mind  the 
next,  that  will  come  soon  enough.  Go  forward !  As  soon  as  our 
Secretary  had  taken  a  hasty  glance  at  the  situation  I  hastened 
to  my  home,  and  found  the  family  all  well.  We  occupied  what 
was  known  as  the  Maltby  house,  which  was  the  first  frame 
house  built  upon  the  University  grounds.  Mr.  Maltby  had  been 
appointed  Indian  Agent  at  Tulare  and  consequently  rented  his 
house  already  furnished. 

After  looking  the  matter  over  the  first  evening  after  return- 
ing home,  I  becam.e  satisfied  that  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost 
in  ascertaining  the  exact  status  of  atifairs,  and  what,  if  any  thing, 
could  be  done  to  improve  the  situation.  Two  weeks  would  soon 
be  gone,  and  at  any  moment  complications  might  arise  that  would 


146  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A   PIONEER 

be  certain  to  confuse  and  distract  the  minds  of  our  people,  and 
especially  those  who  had  already  purchased  our  lands. 

It  was  no  easy  matter  at  that  time,  when  all  the  business 
pertaining  to  the  University  was  in  such  an  unsettled  condition 
to  adopt  and  maintain  a  settled  policy,  especially  when  surround- 
ed by  so  many  perplexities  of  a  local  and  personal  character. 
During  the  night,  therefore,  my  mind  became  strongly  im- 
pressed with  a  desire  to  visit  San  Jose,  and  several  times  I  found 
myself  startled  by  the  force  and  vividness  of  that  impression. 
So  quite  early  in  the  morning  I  walked  down  The  Alameda, 
which,  by  the  way,  presented  a  quite  different  appearance  from 
what  it  does  now,  and  when  coming  to  the  corner  of  First  street, 
just  opposite  where  the  Bank  of  San  Jose  now  stands,  I  met  face 
to  face  with  Mr.  John  Spcnce,  who  was  keeping  a  small  grocery 
store  about  the  place  where  the  Victory  Theatre  now  stands.  Af- 
ter a  hearty,  old-fashioned  shake  of  hands,  he  requested  me  to 
call  at  the  store  before  I  returned  home,  for  said  he,  "I  have  some 
good  news  to  tell  you."  1  told  him  I  would  go  right  back  with 
him  now,  as  such  a  thing  as  "good  news"  would  be  quite  wel- 
come to  me  at  the  present  time.  After  we  were  seated,  he  re- 
marked:  '"Brother  Hines,  I  have  sold  my  ranch  (as  he  called  it), 
over  on  the  Coyote  Creek."  He  owned  40  or  50  acres  on  the 
East  Side  as  it  was  called,  where  the  town  of  East  San  Jose  now 
stands.  Well,  I  replied,  I  hope  you  have  done  well  by  selling, 
but  I  always  thought  it  a  very  delightful  place.  What  did  you 
get?  "I  sold  it  for  $16,000  dollars  in  cash."  You  will  now  be 
able  to  enlarge  your  business  here  I  presume.  He  replied:  "I 
intend  to  put  about  one-half,  or  $8000  into  the  store  and  the  bal- 
ance I  will  keep  for  some  other  purpose." 


ON    TIIK    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  147 

I  could  scarcely  describe  my  emotions  while  he  was  mak- 
ing this  statement,  but  at  its  close  I  looked  into  his  bri<^ht  and 
pleasant  face,  and  quietly  remarked,  I  see  it  all  now,  you  are  the 
very  man  I  saw  in  my  dreams  last  night.  He  turned  aside  the 
joke  by  saying  that  the  old  patriarchs  used  to  think  a  great 
deal  of  dreams,  but  at  the  present  people  preferred  something 
rather  more  substantial.  "But,"  said  he.  "tell  me  how  you  are 
getting  along  in  selling  the  University  lands?"  I  explained  the 
complicated  condition  of  affairs,  the  promise  Air.  Newhall  had 
made  to  me,  and  the  urgency  of  the  matter  in  view  of  the  limit- 
ed time  in  which  we  had  to  act.  I  requested  him  to  hold  the  mat- 
ter in  hand  until  I  could  consult  some  of  the  Trustees,  and  we 
then  would  see  our  way  more  clearly. 

About  noon  I  went  back  to  my  home  with  my  faith  in 
dreams  much  firmer  than  when  I  visited  San  Jose  in  the  morn- 
ing. I  went  in  the  afternoon  to  see  Dr.  Hayden,  our  Secretary, 
who  lived  about  one  mile  outside  of  the  town  of  Santa  Clara  and 
told  him  of  my  visit  to  Mr.  Spence,  and  the  probability  of  our 
getting  the  money  of  him.  He  advised  great  caution,  and  said 
he  would  come  to  my  house  in  the  morning  and  we  would  go  to- 
gether and  see  Mr.  Spence.  He  was  on  hand  in  time  with  his 
horse  and  buggy  and  we  rode  over  to  San  Jose,  highly  elated 
with  the  prospects  before  us.  We  found  Mr.  Spence  at  his 
store,  looked  the  whole  question  over  together,  arranged  the 
matter  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  secured  the  $8,000,  the  amount 
of  the  deficiency,  drove  out  to  the  home  of  Mr.  John  Polhemus, 
who  was  attorney-in-fact  of  Charles  B.  Polhemus,  the  partner 
of  Mr.  Xewhall  in  the  purchase  of  the  University  grounds,  took 


148  LIFE    AND    LABdfeS    OF   A    PIONEER 

his  receipt  for  the  same,  and  the  victory  was  won  and  the  land 
was  saved. 

When  the  amount  of  our  indebtedness  was  endorsed  on 
the  contract  by  Mr.  John  Polhemus,  and  certified  to  by  C.  B.  Pol- 
liemus.  I  went  to  bed  and  took  a  good  long  nap,  and  I  don't  think 
I  dreampt  for  at  least  twelve  hours ;  but  still  I  believe  in  dreams. 

As  soon  as  the  business  was  closed  up  and  made  secure,  I 
wrote  to  the  President  of  the  Board,  Mr.  Annis  Merrill,  giving  a 
detailed  account  of  the  matter,  and  advised  him  to  immediately 
call  a  meeting  of  the  Board,  so  as  to  secure  their  ratification  of 
the  whole  matter,  and  have  it  spread  upon  their  minutes.     He 
wrote  me  at  once,  informing  me  that  he  had  called  the  meeting 
to  be  held  at  his  ofiice  in  the  city,  and  giving  directions  how  to 
proceed.     Suffice  it  to  say,  the  meeting  was  held,  appropriate  ac- 
tion was  had,  and  a  certified  copy  of  the  minutes  was  given  me 
to  show  to  Mr.  Xewhall  and  Mr.  Polhemus.    And  the  work  was 
done  and  it  has  stood  the  test  for  more  than  forty  years.     I  kept 
a  "diary"  at  the  time,  and  thus  find  myself  able  to  tell  this  story. 
Every  other  person  who  participated  in  those  important  trans- 
actions except  myself,  have  passed  over  the  great  divide.     I  will 
just  add  that  as  soon  as  the  Board  adjourned  I  took  the  field 
again  and  sold  enough  of  the  land  to  pay  Mr.  Spencer  his  $8000, 
when  he  concluded  to  move  to  Los  Angeles,  where,  I  think,  he 
lived  until  a  few  vears  since  when  he  passed  away. 


ON   THE   PACIFIC    (?OAST   SINCE    1853  I49 


CHAPTER  XX. 

First  View  of  Potomac  River. 

We  had  tread  tlie  proud  lialls  where  the  tablets  had  told 
Of  the  words  of  the  wise  and  the  deeds  of  the  bold, 
When  far  through  the  vista  in  beauty  was  seen 
.\  deep  rolling  stream  with  its  bright  silver  sheen. 

Of  that  stream  m  my  youth  my  dear  mother  had  sung, 
And  I  thrilled  at  the  words  as  they  fell  from  her  tongue, 
And  I  trembled  with  fear  as  she  told  o'er  and  o'er 
Of  the  dark,  savage  tribes  that  once  roamed  on  its  shores. 

Who  reads  of  the  heroes  that  stood  on  thy  shore. 
Who  thinks  of  the  navies  thy  bosom  once  bore. 
But  feels  in  his  spirit  the  swellings  of  pride. 
While  peacefully  borne  o'er  the  swift-rolling  tide? 

But  brighter  thy  fame  as  the  years  roll  along. 
Shall  live  on  the  pages  of  story  and  song, 
No  river  that  murmurs  its  way  to  the  sea, 
Thou  lovely  Potomac,  is  fairer  than  thee. 

While  thy  waters  shall  gleam  in  the  sunlight  of  God. 
And  we  hallow  the  Halls  where  our  Washington  trod, 
Enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  Columbia  shall  be 
Potomac's  fair  stream  as  it  rolls  to  the  sea. 


1 50  LIFE    AND    LA150RS    OF   A    PIONEER 

We  will  pray  that  thy  hosoni  may  never  more  feel 
The  tumult  of  war  and  the  clashing  of  steel, 
While  the  people  who  cherish  and  love  thee  may  be 
As  gentle  and  pure  and  as  peaceful  as  thee. 

Great  souls  of  the  mighty  look  down  from  the  sky, 
And  smile  on  these  shores  where  our  heroes  now  lie, 
That  liberty's  flames  on  our  altars  may  glow, 
As  long  as  Potomac's  bright  waters  shall  flow. 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  I5I 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Some  of  the  Perils  and  Exciting  Scenes  of  Pioneer  Days 
in  Oregon  and  California. 

IT  is  undoubtedly  the  part  of  wisdom,  and  will  add  greatly  to 
the  knowledge  as  well  as  amusement  and  pleasure  of  those 
who  are  soon  to  enter  into  the  toils  and  achievements  of  the  early 
settlers  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  to  have  placed  in  a  tangible  and  re- 
liable form  the  peculiar  incidents  and  personal  experiences  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  Oregon  and  California.  We  have  now  ar- 
rived at  our  utmost  limits.  No  more  unoccupied  territory 
stretches  out  beyond  us,  inviting  the  restless  footsteps  of  the 
emigrant  to  make  for  himself  and  his  posterity  an  abiding  dwell- 
ing place.  To  leave  to  the  uncertain  utterances  of  tradition  the 
most  important  and  interesting  period  of  our  social  and  political 
life  would  be  a  positive  calamity  both  to  the  future  historian 
and  generations  that  may  come  after  us.  To  avoid  this  we  have 
written  these  short  sketches,  which  we  have  reason  to  believe 
will  be  acceptable  to  the  general  public  and  aid  somewhat  in  cre- 
ating the  ideals  for  our  future  guardians  and  supporters. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  month  of  August,  in  1855, 
that  we  had  occasion  to  make  a  business  trip  from  my  home  in 
the  central  part  of  the  Willamette  valley  to  Jacksonville,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  200  miles.  In  making  the  journey  our  road  led 
us  for  some  20  miles  through  a  country  inhabited  by  natives 
called  the  "Rogue  River  Indians."    For  a  number  of  years  they 


152  LIFE    AXn    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

had  been  manifesting  a  growino-  dissatisfaction  at  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  whites  in  passing  and  repassing  through  their 
country,  thus  frightening  away  the  game  from  their  hunting 
grounds,  from  which  they  procured  their  hving.  These  indians 
were  unusually  blood-thirsty  and  cruel  and  in  several  instances 
lone  travelers  had  been  waylaid  and  murdered  while  passing  from 
one  settlement  to  another.  The  people  all  over  the  country  had 
been  for  some  time  looking  for  an  outbreak,  but  in  what  man- 
ner it  would  come,  there  seemed  to  be  no  settled  opinion.  On 
the  extreme  northern  part  of  their  territory  the  white  inhabi- 
tants had  erected  a  block-house  as  a  place  of  refuge  in  case  of 
emergency,  where  the  settlers  could  flee  for  protection  until  re- 
lief could  be  obtained.  On  the  southern  border  about  15  or  20 
miles  distant  the  government  had  erected  a  fort  called  "Fort 
Lane,"  named  after  General  Joseph  Lane,  first  Governor  of  Ore- 
gon. Here  was  stationed  a  squad  of  soldiers  well  supplied  with 
arms  and  ammunition,  and  ready  to  stand  a  siege  of  several 
months. 

Thus  matters  stood,  when  1  had  ocasion  to  pass  through  the 
entire  length  of  the  "Rogue  River  Country"  as  it  was  called, 
riding  on  horse-back,  and  driving  before  me  a  span  of  mules, 
which  I  had  purchased  at  Jacksonville  and  was  taking  to  my 
home  near  Corvallis  in  the  central  ])art  of  the  Willamette  valley. 
I  was  entirely  unarmed,  and  unprepared  for  either  offensive  or 
defensive  hostilities.  I  had  just  crossed  a  small  stream  called 
"Cow  Creek'  and  was  slowly  jogging  along  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  on  the  other  side  of  which  was  the  before  mentioned 
block-house,  when  I  saw  in  the  road  not  a  iumdred  yards  before 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SIXCK    1 853  1 53 

me,  two  Indians,  one  armed  with  a  gun,  and  the  other,  a  smaller 
man,  entirely  unarmed,  like  myself. 

Those  who  have  been  acquainted  with  the  Indians  of  Ore- 
gon, especially  within  the  territory  of  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
will  remember  that  whenever  saluted  by  a  person  meeting  them 
upon  the  road,  in  the  jargon  or  speech  used  by  all  the  tribes  in 
their  traffic  with  each  other,  your  safety  from  molestation  or 
harm  was  assured.  I  had  picked  up  many  of  their  most  common 
words,  so  when  these  two  Indians  came  near  enough  to  plainly 
hear,  I  cried  out  "cla  hoy  cm  sex,"  or  what  in  our  tongue  would 
be,  '"how  do  you  do,  sir."  To  my  astonishment  neither  of  them 
paid  the  least  attention  to  what  I  said,  or  even  deigned  to  look 
at  me.  You  may  rest  assured  I  took  the  hint  and  kept  my  eyes 
riveted  upon  their  movements.  As  soon  as  they  had  passed  me 
about  ten  feet,  the  one  carrying  the  gun  paused,  turned  around 
and  attempted  to  raise  it  to  his  shoulder.  The  other  one  at  once 
seized  the  barrel  and  pulling  it  down,  prevented  its  being  dis- 
charged. Like  a  flash  1  seized  my  lariat,  and  struck  the  mules 
with  all  my  strength.  They  both  leaped  forward  carrying  me 
in  an  instant  behind  a  bunch  of  bushes.  As  I  came  out  for  an 
instant  within  sight  of  the  Indians,  the)-  were  still  contending 
with  each  other  for  the  gun.  In  an  instant  my  animals  leaped 
over  a  small  hillock,  and  away  we  sped  over  the  Cow  Creek 
mountains,  a  distance  of  six  miles,  to  the  block-house.  There 
was,  or  seemed  to  be,  at  least  a  dozen  Indians  and  behind  every 
bush,  but  I  didn't  stop  to  count  them  or  to  salute  them  in  their 
native  tongue.  In  about  two  weeks  afterwards  two  teamsters, 
freighting  provisions  with  four  yoke  of  oxen  to  Jacksonville  and 
Fort  Lane,  were  waylaid  and  shot  on  the  very  spot  where  I  had 


154  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF  A    PIONEER 

met  the  two  Indians,  and  thus  opened  one  of  the  most  bloody 
Indian  wars  that  was  ever  fought  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  And  so 
close  did  I  come  to  being  its  first  victim. 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  1 55 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
Returning-  Home  From  the  East. 

Thou  fair  smiling  valley,  I  hasten  to  thee, 

As  the  long  absent  sailor  speeds  over  the  sea, 

That  his  vision  may  feast  on  the  beauties  once  more 

That  deck  the  sweet  fields  of  his  own  native  shore. 

Tell  us  not  of  the  glories  of  city  or  field, 
Or  seek  to  allure  by  the  pleasure  they  yield, 
For  naught  have  we  found  as  we  wandered  away 
Such  beauties  as  crown  thee,  thou  fair  San  Jose. 

For  thee  will  we  banish  all  doubtings  and  fears, 
For  thee  will  we  cease  all  our  sorrows  and  tears. 
No  starlight  of  evening  or  sunlight  of  day 
Can  equal  the  brightness  of  sweet  San  Jose. 

We  will  pray  that  thy  temples  may  evermore  stand, 
The  hope,  and  the  joy,  and  the  pride  of  our  land, 
That  thy  sons  and  fair  daughters  may  never  betray 
The  name  and  the  fame  of  our  loved  San  Jose. 


156  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Composed  On  Our  Golden  Wedding-  Day 

For  many  years  we've  sailed  the  main, 

In  fair  and  stormy  weather, 

Our  vessel  sometimes  felt  the  strain 

That  comes  with  wind  and  storm  of  rain, 

But  still  we  stood  together. 

Before  our  faith  each  cloud  would  fly, 
Like  dancing  wind-tossed  feather. 
And  we  could  see,  as  they  passed  by, 
Through  rifted  cloud  the  clear  blue  sky, 
That  promised  brighter  weather. 

But  how  so  e'er  the  sea  might  seem, 
Or  dark  and  drear  the  weather. 
Our  eyes  would  see  love's  beacon  star 
That  beamed  so  sweetly  from  afar, 
Anrl  held  our  hearts  together. 

To-day  the  voyage  is  almost  o'er. 

But  we  still  sail  together, 

And  pray  that  God  may  give  each  soul, 

When  death  shall  call,  that  heavenly  goal. 

Where  sunlight  shines  forever. 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  I57 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

On  the  Opening  of  the  Rebellion. 

When  treason's  hosts  were  marshalled  on  our  southern  sunny 
plains, 
And  their  stirred  ranks  were  marching  to  the  sound  of  mar- 
tial strain. 
The  first  to  heed  the  warning  as  it  rang  out  there  and  then. 

Were  the  sons  of  Massachusetts,  and  they  all  were  laboring 
men. 

Arouse,  ye  sturdy  yeomen !  flashed  along  the  trembling  wires, 
Let  the  altars  of  your  country  blaze  anew  with  patriot  fires, 

For  Freedom's  voice  is  calling  you  from  every  dell  and  glen, 
To  rise  for  her  protection  and  acquit  yourselves  like  men. 

And  they  hurled  the  demon  slavery  from  its  hoary,  bloody  throne. 
Inspired  by  truth  and  justice  they  restored  to  man  his  own. 

For  naught  could  stay  the  battle  as  it  swept  its  fiery  way. 

Till  all  the  suffering  bondmen  saw  the  light  of  freedom's 
day. 

Hear  ye  not  the  muttering  thunder  as  it  echoes  clear  and  loud. 

See  ye  not  the  forked  lightning  as  it  leaps  the  rifted  cloud, 
'Tis  Heaven's  voice  prophetic  that  proclaims  the  coming  day. 

When  labor's  host  triumphant  o'er  this  land  shall  bear  the 
sway. 


158  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF    A    PIONEER 

They  would  chain  our  bold  Prometheus  to  the  sturdy  flinty  rack, 
And  would  bear  his  beating  bosom  to  the  tempests  fearful 
shack, 
But  the  fire  he  brought  from  heaven  and  bestowed  with  generous 
hand. 
Still  glows  with  radiant  beauty  on  the  altars  of  our  land. 

Again  the  notes  of  warning  sound  along  our  hills  and  plains. 
Rise,  freemen !  save  your  country  from  corruption's  fearful 
stains, 
Not  the  bullet,  but  the  ballot,  now  can  make  you  feel  as  when 
Sweet  freedom  rose  and  slavery  fell  by  the  power  of  laboring 
men. 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  I59 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

What  Constitutes  a  State? 

Pause  now  and  learn  what  constitutes  a  State : 
What  makes  a  nation  truly  wise  and  great? 
Do  towering  monuments  that  pierce  the  sky, 
O'er  the  proud  dust  where  buried  heroes  lie? 
Do  cities  fair  with  gorgeous  temples  crowned, 
Or  busy  commerce  with  its  murmuring  sound? 
Is  it  tile  train  that  thunders  through  the  land, 
To  bear  our  products  to  some  distant  strand? 
Or  the  tamed  lightning  darting  o'er  the  wire, 
To  bear  our  message  on  its  wings  of  fire? 
No — these  may  flourish  with  exulting  pride. 
Where  virtue,  honor,  truth  and  right  have  died. 
'Tis  men  we  need,  men  of  a  noble  mould 
Who  scorn  to  barter  principle  for  gold. 
Constant  to  keep  a  noble  end  in  view, 
And  with  unfaltering  step  that  end  pursue. 


l6o  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF    A    PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

How  I  Destroyed  the  Des  Chutes  Ferry. 

TT  was  about  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1853,  that  I  received  my 
transfer  from  the  Genesee  Conference,  the  territory  of  which 
then  lay  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York,  to  the 
Oregon  Conference,  which  then  embraced  the  Territories  of  Ore- 
gon and  Washington.  About  the  first  of  May  my  two  brothers, 
one  older  and  one  younger  than  myself,  had  been  appointed  to 
♦he  same  field,  and  then  had  procured  their  traveling  outfit  and 
were  headed  overland  to  their  future  place  of  Missionary  toil 
in  the  State  of  Oregon.  When  they  left  my  home,  which  was  in 
the  city  of  Warsaw,  Wyoming  county,  N.  Y.,  I  had  no  expec- 
tation of  ever  seeing  them  in  the  world  again.  When  I  received 
my  transfer  it  was  entirely  unknown  to  them,  as  they  were  then 
nearly  one  month  out  on  the  plains,  headed  for  the  Pacific  Coast 
with  their  slow-moving  ox  teams.  Without  being  able  to  com- 
municate with  them,  I  received  instructions  to  be  ready  to  sail 
on  the  20th  of  June  on  the  steamer  Illinois,  Capt.  Patterson,  at 
4  :o<D  o'clock  P.  M. 

I  was  on  hand  ])romptly,  with  my  family,  and  was  the  veri- 
est land  lubber  on  the  earth,  for  I  had  never  seen  the  ocean, 
though  born  and  reared  in  the  State  of  Xew  York.  We  steared 
away  for  Kingston,  Jamica,  where  we  took  in  coal,  then  went 
away  across  the  Carrabean  Sea  to  Aspinwall  on  the  Isthmus 
of  i^anama.     At  Aspinwall  we  took  cars   for  Gargona,  on  the 


ON  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  sixcu;  1853  161 

Chagres  River,  but  a  span  of  the  bridge  over  that  river  having 
been  carried  away  in  the  flood  of  a  few  days  previous,  we  were 
compelled  to  take  open  boats  and  be  rowed  six  miles  by  naked 
Indians  to  the  little  town  of  Cruses,  where  we  were  to  tarry  for 
the  night.  About  midnight,  we  were  startled  by  the  cry  of 
fire,  which  swept  through  the  tow^n  and  destroyed  every  hovel 
in  it  to  ashes  in  less  than  two  hours.  Here  were  about  100  pas- 
sengers, without  shelter,  waiting  for  daylight  to  arrive  and  show 
their  deplorable  condition.  The  women  and  children  were  per- 
mitted to  occupy  one  of  the  frame  buildings  of  the  Railroad 
Company,  and  nearly  all  of  them  were  provided  v^ith  ham- 
mocks, where  they  swung  themselves  up  for  a  little  rest. 

This,  at  that  time,  was  the  terminus  of  the  railroad,  and 
the  balance  of  the  way  to  Panama,  which  was  about  12  or  15 
miles,  was  to  be  traveled  on  mules,  all  but  the  children,  who 
v^'ere  carried  on  the  backs  of  naked  savages  at  five  dollars  per 
head.  We  had  some  trouble  with  mules,  but  at  last  all  was 
ready  for  a  start.  It  seems  that  the  mule  business  was  con- 
troled  by  the  Railroad  Company,  and  there  was  a  terrible  scram- 
ble after  the  best  mules.  At  last  all  were  quite  well  satisfied  and 
we  moved  on  and  at  about  sundown  we  entered  the  ancient  city 
of  Panama.  It  looked.  I  have  no  doubt,  much  as  it  did  in  the 
days  of  the  ]\Iontezumas.  The  next  day  was  the  4th  of  July, 
which  we  celebrated  as  best  we  could.  We  had  several  speeches, 
sang  several  patriotic  songs,  had  a  good  dinner. 

The  next  day  we  went  aboard  the  fine  steamer  Golden  Gate 
and  sailed  c|uietly  over  the  bright  and  placid  waters  of  the  mighty 
Pacific,  and  in  duo  time  cast  our  anchor  at  the  foot  of  Jackson 
Street,  in  the  struggling  city  of  San  Francisco.    Then  there  was 


l62  I.Il'K    AND    LAKURS    OF   A    PIOXEER 

no  Street  above  Powell,  nor  below  Sansome.  There  was  a  grave- 
yard about  where  the  Baldwin  Hotel  now  stands,  and  dogs  were 
chasing  jack  rabbits  where  the  Palace  Hotel  now  stands.  I 
remained  in  San  Francisco  about  one  week,  stopping  with  M. 
C.  Briggs,  the  pastor  of  the  Powell  Street  Church.  Except  the 
little  Bethel,  where  William  Taylor  preached  to  the  sailors,  this 
was  the  onl\'  Methodist  church  for  quite  a  number  of  years. 

We  went  on  board  the  small  steamer  Columbia  and  sailed 
out  of  the  Golden  Gate  about  the  13th  of  July.  We  crossed  the 
storm  swept  bar  of  the  Columbia  in  safety,  and,  sailing  up  the 
broad  river,  where  the  majestic  fir  forests  crept  down  to  the 
waters,  and  turning  12  miles  uj)  the  beautiful  Willamette,  tied 
up  our  little  steamer  in  front  of  the  prospective  metropolis  of 
the  North. 

Our  journey  was  ended.  The  varied  scenes  and  checkered 
scenery  through  which  we  had  passed  had  made  a  deep  and  last- 
ing impression  upon  our  minds,  and  I  felt  eager  to  acquaint 
myself  with  the  field  where  I  expected  at  that  time  to  pass  the 
remainder  of  my  life.  Everything  seemed  new  and  so  roughly 
primitive  in  style  that  I  questioned  my  power  of  adaptation,  and 
felt  at  times  a  little  feeling  of  homesickness  creeping  over  me. 
But  this  I  would  shake  ofif,  and  rush  out  into  the  field  or  for- 
est and  afldress  myself  to  some  enterprise  that  would  tend  to 
build  up  and  beautify  my  new  and  future  home. 

About  the  first  of  August,  the  emigrants  began  to  arrive 
from  the  plains,  wearied  and  sometimes  sick,  and  many  of  them 
disheartened  on  account  of  the  loss  of  teams  and  wagons  dur- 
ing the  journey,  and  the  worst  of  all  the  death  and  burial  of 
friend'-  in  the  desert.     Sometimes  it  was  a  husband,  sometimes 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1 853  163 

a  wife,  a  son  or  a  daughter;  sometimes  both  liusbaiul 
and  wife,  leaving  a  number  of  orphans  children  to  be  cared 
for  by  strangers,  or  wander  without  care,  ragged  and  destitute 
and  forsaken,  themselves  to  perish  in  the  wilderness.  No  pen 
has  ever  been  able  to  adec[uately  describe  the  terrible  sufferings 
of  those  early  emigrants  during  the  ten  years  succeeding  1850. 
Having  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  I  had  a  few  weeks  to 
spare  before  the  bulk  of  the  emigrants  began  to  arrive,  and 
nothing  could  exceed  the  terrible  sufferings  I  witnessed  amongst 
the  first  arrivals  from  the  plains.  Frequently  a  solitary  horse- 
man would  arrive,  bringing  news  of  some  special  disaster,  and 
the  settlers  would  pack  several  horses  and  mules  with  provisions 
and  clothing  and  hasten  to  their  relief. 

When  1  arrived  at  Portland  in  the  Autumn  of  1853.  I  found 
myself  confronted  with  an  unusual  number  of  such  scenes,  and 
I  soon  exhausted  all  my  surplus  means,  in  efforts  for  their  relief, 
and  then  began  to  work  for  wages  in  order  to  be  able  to  accom- 
plish more.  As  soon  as  the  first  emigrants  began  to  arrive  in 
the  settlements  west  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  I  began  to 
seek  information  in  regard  to  my  brothers,  three  of  whom  had 
left  St.  Joseph,  ^^lo.,  in  the  early  Spring.  I  found  they  had  be- 
gun to  arrive  quite  freely  at  the  Dalles,  then  the  head  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  east  of  Hood  River,  where  it  empties  into  the  Co- 
lumbia. There  were  but  a  few  permanent  buildings  there  at 
that  time,  but  a  large  number  of  tents,  where  traders  kept  sup- 
plies during  the  emigrant  season,  and  bought  up  cattle  from 
those  just  in  from  the  sage  brush  plains,  especially  from  those 
whose  cattle  were  run  down  and  were  thought  to  be  unable  to 
cross  the  Cascade  INIountains  to  the  grass  covered  plains  of  the 


164  LIFE    AXn    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

Willamette  Valley.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  Dalles  the 
river  branches,  one  branch  leading  down  the  Columbia  River, 
around  the  Cascades  on  the  west  about  two  miles,  then  across 
the  tongue  of  land  between  the  Columbia  and  the  Willamette  to 
the  City  of  Portland. 

At  it  was  uncertain  which  route  my  folks  would  take,  I 
was  advised  to  go  up  to  the  Dalles  and  await  their  coming  there. 
So  I  took  the  advice,  and,  traveling  the  usual  route  in  a1x)ut 
twelve  hours,  arrived  at  the  place  of  destination.  I  put  up  with 
a  friend  with  whom  I  had  become  acquainted  in  Portland,  and 
sought  his  advice  in  regard  to  my  future  movements.  About 
midnight,  we  were  aroused  by  a  voice  at  the  door  of  our  tent 
with  the  inquiry,  "Is  there  any  one  in  the  place  that  can  perform 
the  marriage  ceremony?"  He  was  answered  in  the  affirmative 
by  my  friend  and  told  that  inside  the  tent  there  was  a  Methodist 
preacher  who  could  attend  to  such  matters  when  desirable.  A 
few  words  explained  the  situation.  There  stood  a  neat  and 
gentlemanly  appearing  young  man,  and  at  his  side  a  blushing 
damsel  of  about  18  years  of  age.  The  }oung  man  said  they 
were  all  from  Missouri,  were  all  members  ot  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  were  camped  miles  out  near  the  crossing  of  the 
Des  Chutes  River,  and  would  be  in  town  as  soon  as  possible  in 
the  morning.  They  desired  to  be  married  without  delay  so  as 
return  to  the  camp  before  they  were  missed.  I  told  them  that 
I  would  require  a  clear,  truthful  statement  of  the  exact  situation 
Ijefore  1  would  consent  to  perform  the  ceremony.  They  told 
me  that  the  mother  of  the  girl  was  willing  and  anxious  for  them 
to  be  married  before  their  leaving  home,  but  the  father,  who  was 
of  a  miserly  turn,  was  unwilling  because  the  young  man  was 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  165 

poor.  To  avoid  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  tliis  poor  young 
man,  he  had  sold  his  property  and  crossed  the  plains  with  his 
entire  family.  Such  was  the  attachment  of  the  young  people  to 
each  other  that  the  young  man  had  taken  the  next  train  and  had 
followed  the  girl  across  the  plains.  Last  night  he  had  made 
himself  known  to  the  mother  and  daughter,  and  had  come  in 
together  to  the  business  that  they  had  so  ardently  desired.  I 
then  performed  the  ceremony  making  them  man  and  wife.  1 
then  told  them  to  return  immediately,  acquaint  the  mother  of 
all  that  had  happened,  and  I  would  be  out  early  and  have  a 
talk  with  the  father.  They  promised  strict  compliance  with  my 
request,  and,  shaking  them  by  the  hand,  while  a  glistening  tear- 
drop trembled  over  the  fair,  sweet  face  of  the  happy  bride,  I 
invoked  the  blessing  of  God  upon  them  in  all  their  future  life. 

Early  in  the  morning,  having  procured  a  good  riding  horse 
of  my  friend,  I  rode  out  to  the  camp,  and,  speeding  over  the 
rolling  prairie,  soon  drew  rein  at  the  door  of  the  tent  and  asked 
to  see  the  proprietor  of  the  same.  The  father  of  the  bride  came 
to  the  door,  and,  with  a  quiet,  yet  somewhat  abrupt,  tone,  asked 
what  I  desired.  I  asked  him  if  his  wife  was  in  the  tent,  and 
being  answered  in  the  aflfirmative,  inquired  if  it  would  be  agree- 
able to  them  to  hold  a  few  moments'  interview  with  me  alone. 
He  gave  his  consent,  but  intimated  that  they  were  in  a 
great  hurry,  and  wished  the  interview  to  be  as  brief  a? 
possible.  I  then  related  the  events  of  the  past  night,  and  told 
him  that  if  he  would  remain  a  few  days  at  the  Dalles,  I  had  a 
friend  there  who  would  be  able  to  give  them  some  information 
of  especial  value  to  the  whole  family.  I  told  him  that  I  was  out 
on  the  plains  to  meet  brothers  who  had  crossed  the  plains  in  the 


l66  LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF   A    PIONEER 

present  year,  and  I  presumed  would  soon  he  in  the  Dalles.  He 
said  he  intended  to  stop  there  for  several  days  and  he  would 
wait  there  for  my  return.  I  told  him  that  as  we  had  all  come 
a  long  distance,  to  huild  up  homes  in  a  new  and  strange  land, 
we  should  strive  to  help  each  other  as  much  as  possible.  Evi- 
dently the  old  man  felt  a  little  sore  over  the  course  things  had 
taken,  but  I  gained  my  point  in  getting  him  to  wait  my  return. 
They  soon  moved  on  into  the  Dalles  and  pitched  their  tent 
for  a  few  days'  rest,  and  to  await  my  return,  while  I  rode  down 
the  hill  towards  the  Des  Chutes  River  to  meet  my  brothers,  whom 
I  knew  could  not  be  many  miles  away.  When  I  arrived  at  the 
ferry  landing,  I  found  the  boat  had  just  crossed  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  where  alone  there  was  a  chance  to  rest  before 
starting  on  tlie  last  15  miles  to  the  Dalles.  On  the  opposite  side, 
from  a  small  elevation,  one  could  see  the  road  for  nearly  four 
miles  away,  and  I  was  anxious  to  see  if  there  were  any  trains 
of  emigrants  now  at  hand.  So  I  called  to  the  ferryman  to  come 
and  take  me  over,  and  offered  him  the  dollar  which  the  law  re- 
quired. He  refused  to  come,  and  told  me  to  wait  unto  the  next 
train  came  up  and  then  he  would  come.  I  informed  him  that 
I  had  come  all  the  way  from  Portland  to  meet  some  friends,  and 
the  next  train,  which  was  then  about  one  mile  away,  might  be  the 
train,  and  I  desired  to  meet  them  fjn  the  other  side.  He  turned 
abrujjtly  away,  saying  he  could  do  nothing  ror  me.  "Very 
well."  I  replied,  "then  I  will  help  myself."  1  rode  up  to  an  In- 
dian nearby,  showed  him  a  silver  dollar  and  asked  him  to  lead  my 
horse  over.  In  a  moment  he  had  tossed  his  lariat  over  the  head 
of  my  horse  and  was  dragging  me  into  the  river.  He  seemed 
to  understand  what  I  desired,  and  seemed  to  know  exactly  what 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  167 

to  do.  They  soon  discovered  what  was  going  on  at  tlie  ferry 
above,  and  offered  to  come  over  and  get  me  if  I  would  go  back. 
I  told  them  that  I  guessed  I  would  wait  until  the  train  came  up, 
then  we  would  all  go  back  together.  We  passed  safely  over, 
the  water  in  no  place  being  higher  than  the  horse's  knees.  The 
stream  having  divided  about  300  yards  below  the  ferry,  it  was 
easily  fordable  on  horseback.  Strangers,  of  course,  knew  noth- 
ing about  this,  and  the  ferry  people,  by  exaggeration  and  de- 
ception, had  kept  it  a  secret  a  great  length  of  time. 

As  soon  as  I  was  over,  I  at  once  rode  up  to  a  little  eleva- 
tion, and  there,  right  before  my  eyes,  was  the  train  I  had  come 
nearly  200  miles  to  meet.  I  knew  them  at  a  glance,  but  I  was 
entirely  unrecognized  by  them,  although  six  months  before  they 
had  left  my  house  in  the  State  of  New  York.  So  I  turned  back, 
and,  riding  down  near  the  river,  awaited  their  arrival.  In  a  few 
moments,  my  elder  brother,  leading  by  the  hand  his  little  adopt- 
ed daughter,  the  only  child  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  the  founder  of 
the  Oregon  Missions.  They  were  walking  leisurely  along, 
searching  for  a  suitable  place  to  stop  their  wagons.  I  was  sit- 
ting upon  my  horse  not  100  feet  away  when  they  went  by,  barely 
giving  me  a  casual  glance.  After  selecting  a  suitable  place,  they 
started  to  inform  the  incoming  team.  This  led  them  a  little 
nearer  to  me.  All  at  once,  the  little  girl  paused,  looked  up  to- 
wards my  face,  her  great  blue  eyes  dilating  with  wonder  and 
awe;  she  lifted  up  her  little  hand  and  cried  out,  "Papa!  papa! 
come  here!  Come  here!"  all  tiie  time  staring  wildly  at  my 
face.  Brother,  no  less  excited  than  the  little  girl,  cried  out, 
"Merciful   Heavens.  Jose])h,   is  that  you,  or  is   it   your  ghost?" 


l68  LIFIC    AND    LAIJOKS    OF   A    PIONEER 

1  guess  the  Des  Chutes  River  never  saw  a  more  surprised  and 
excited  crowd  than  stood  on  its  banks  at  that  hour. 

We  were  soon  refreshed  and  brought  to  our  senses  by  a 
cup  of  Aunt  LycHe's  tea,  and  we  mutually  agreed  that  no  ex- 
planation should  be  required  of  the  ghost  who  had  a  few  mo- 
ments before  entered  camp,  as  it  had  acted  towards  Aunt  Lydie's 
tea  just  as  the  original  did  way  back  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
until  a  more  convenient  season  arrived.  The  entire  company  was 
called  together  for  consultation,  as  a  crisis  evidently  was  near  at 
hand.  I  had  provided  myself  with  about  $20.00  to  pay  my 
expenses  on  the  trip,  not  thinking  that  an  emergency  might 
arise  like  the  present.  In  talking  the  matter  over,  I  incidentally 
alluded  to  my  adventure  with  the  Indian  in  getting  over  the  riv- 
er, and  gave  it  as  my  opinion  that  we  had  no  use  for  a  ferryboat. 
I  told  them  that  if  they  were  willing  to  take  the  risk,  I  would 
guide  them  over  the  stream  the  same  way  I  had  come.  I  mount- 
ed my  horse,  rode  over,  showing  them  the  marks  I  had  made  on 
the  shore,  and  on  my  return  all  concluded  to  make  the  venture. 
My  youngest  brother,  who,  by  the  way,  was  celebrated  as  an 
expert  driver,  and  had  a  well  trained  team,  was  selected  to  take 
the  lead  the  the  rest  were  to  follow  close  behind.  All  were  in- 
structed that,  in  case  of  the  upsetting  of  a  wagon,  by  the  swift 
running  waters,  to  be  sure  to  seize  hold  of  some  secure  part  of 
cover  and  not  be  separated  from  it,  to  roll  up  the  curtains  of 
the  cover  so  as  not  to  be  caught  under  them.  I  put  my  lariat 
around  tiic  off  ox  which  was  the^fartherest  down  stream.  All  being- 
ready,  the  worrl  was  given  and  the  long  lash  whirled  over  the 
backs  of  the  oxen,  the  riders  driving  the  loose  stock  pressed 
close  behind  and  in  just  about   15  minutes  after  the  wheels  of 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  169 

the  first  wagon  had  touched  the  run  of  the  river,  the  last  of  our 
three  teams  had  reached  the  opposite  shore.  Other  teams  came 
rolHng  up  behind  us,  and  others  behind  them,  leaving-  a  well 
beaten  track,  which  revealed  the  deception  of  the  Des 
Chutes  ferry  and  numbered  it  with  the  things  that  were.  A  ferry 
has  not  been  run  there  from  that  day  to  this,  and  in  all  probability 
never  will  be  again,  as  a  railroad  bridge  has  been  built  a  short 
distance  above,  and  a  well  known  ford  is  all  that  is  needed  for 
local  travel,  except  in  very  high  water.  And  that  is  the  way  I 
destroyed  the  Des  Chutes  Ferry.  So  perish  all  liars  and  de- 
ceivers, who  seize  on  the  gifts  of  God  to  man  and  strive  to  de- 
ceive and  rob  the  people. 


I/O  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A   PIONEER 


CHAPTER  XX\  ir. 
LINCOLN. 

Thou  sainted  Lincoln,  whose  untimely  end 

Bereft  a  nation  of  its  dearest  friend, 

To  imitate  thy  virtues  shall  engage  ; 

The  toiling  patriot  of  each  coming  age. 

From  thee  they  learn  to  love  their  country's  laws, 

And  die  with  pleasure  in  her  sacred  cause. 

No  sting  of  envy  thy  pure  soul  possessed, 

No  vengeful   feelings  burned  within  thy  breast. 

From  chilling  prejudice  thy  mind  was  free, 

And   suffering  bondmen   found  a   friend   in   thee. 

No  sordid  end  pursued,  but  firmly  stood 
For  truth,  and  labored  for  the  people's  good. 
While  slumbering  now  among  the  silent  dead, 
A  martyr's  crown  adorns  thy  sainted  head ; 
And  while  we  cherish  what  thy  deeds  have  won, 
We  write  thy  name  next  to  our  W^ashington. 

/^\SE  feels  lost  and  bewildered  when  one  attempts  to  say 
^^  anything  new  or  instructive  concerning  Abraham  Lincoln. 
His  great  and  wonderful  career,  during  one  of  the  most  event- 
ful and  critical  periods  of  our  national  history,  has  for  nearly 
fifty  years  been  before  the  country  in  almost  every  form  in  which 


ON  the;  pacific  coast  since  1853  171 

genius  or  patriotism  could  possibly  present  it.  His  unicjue  per- 
sonality, his  early  habits  and  experience,  his  rapid  elevation  to 
the  highest  and  most  responsible  position  in  our  country,  his  of- 
ficial acts,  while  occuping  that  position,  and  the  sudden  and 
startling  exit  from  it,  can  scarcely  find  a  single  parallel  in  the 
history  of  the  human  race.  While  bearing  about  in  his  form 
and  features  the  appearance  of  premature  age,  yet  he  was  com- 
paratively a  young  man  when  elevated  to  the  Presidency  in 
i860.  This,  when  all  collateral  circumstances  are  considered, 
pointed  him  out  to  all  thoughtful  and  discerning  minds  as  being 
set  apart  by  Infinite  Wisdom  for  a  special  work  in  his  day  and 
generation,  but  also  for  the  years  that  are  to  come. 

Like  all  great  reformers,  Lincoln  built  better  than  he  knew. 
It  was  necessary  for  him  to  learn  the  art  of  government,  for  by 
nature  and  patriotic  impulse  his  life  flowed  on  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  the  eternal  principles  of  justice  and  truth.  He  did 
not  hesitate  to  spurn  with  instinctive  dislike  all  attempts  to  com- 
promise with  falsehood  and  error.  As  highly  as  he  estimated 
the  friendship  and  work  of  Horace  Greeley,  and  others  of  sim- 
ilar views,  he  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  their  hesitating  fears,  and 
stood  firm  and  confident  in  support  of  his  policy  to  crush  out  the 
rebellion  at  whatever  cost.  He  clearly  recognized  the  fact  that 
an  order  of  sequence  existed  not  only  in  the  physical  but  in  the 
moral  and  spiritual  world  as  well,  and  that  to  attempt  to  ignore 
this  fact  to  escape  its  operation  would  only  end  in  ignominious 
failure.  Like  the  Israelites  of  old,  while  standing  upon  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea.  the  only  road  to  peace  and  safety  was  in 
going  straight  forward,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  lift  up  his  voice 
and  say  to  the  doubting  people  around  him,  "Go  forward!" 


172  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

Contemporaneous  testimony,  coming  from  reliable  sources, 
revealed  the  fact  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  devout  and  re- 
ligious man.  While  adopting  no  particular  denominational  for- 
mula of  faith,  he  sought  the  companionship  of  those  devout  and 
pious  men  whose  prominence  and  influence  in  the  religious 
world  was  known  and  acknowledged  in  all  lands.  In  addition 
to  his  being  a  great  student  of  the  Bible,  he  was  in  constant  fel- 
lowship with  such  church  leaders  as  Bishop  Simpson,  Bishop 
Ames,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Horace  Bushnell,  and  other  great 
religious  leaders  of  the  day.  He  appointed  and  devoutly  ob- 
served the  days  of  fasting  and  prayer,  and  like  Washington  at 
Valley  Forge,  he  often  sought  upon  his  knees  aid  and  direction 
from  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  nations. 

What  may  be  termed  the  humorous  side  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
character  is  shown  in  his  gift  of  story  telling,  which  was  mar- 
velous in  the  extreme.  By  a  simple  anecdote,  he  would  fre- 
quently settle  a  deep  and  perplexing  problem,  and  throw  a  flood 
of  light  upon  questions  that  had  defied  the  skill  and  power  of  the 
most  learned  logicians.  Sometimes  men  of  undoubted  sincer- 
ity, but  perplexed  by  doubts  and  fears,  would  leave  his  pres- 
ence feeling  shocked  and  sorrowful  after  listening  to  a  light  and 
seemingly  frivolous  story,  but  a  little  time  for  reflection,  and 
the  one  great  i)urpose  of  his  life  would  rise  up  before  them  in 
vindication  of  integrity  and  settled  convictions.  Failing  at  times, 
by  the  intermeddling  of  theoretical  bores,  a  single  humorous  ut- 
terance from  his  lips  would  cut  like  a  two-edged  sword  in  put- 
ting them  all  to  speedy  and  disorderly  flight.  Take  for  instance, 
his  reply  to  a  delegation  who  called  to  remonstrate  against  the 
promotion  of  General  Grant,  on  account  of  his  alleged  excessive 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  I73 

use  of  ardent  spirits.  With  tliat  quizzical  look  peculiar  to  the 
man,  he  gravely  inquired  if  they  could  tell  him  of  the  brand  of 
liquor  General  Grant  used  as  he  "would  be  glad  to  send  for  a 
supply  for  some  of  his  other  generals."  This  settled  the  ques- 
tion and  the  committee  retired.  It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  sav 
that,  even  at  this  early  day,  the  life  and  achievements  of  Lincoln 
changed  in  a  fundamental  manner  the  moral  basis  of  civil  gov- 
ernment. He  raised  it  above  the  expediential  basis  of  France, 
the  aristocratic  theory  of  England  and  Germany,  and  left  it  as 
an  inheritance  "for  the  people  and  by  the  people."  The  "self- 
evident"  proposition  of  Jefferson  has  now  received  an  addi- 
tional illumination,  and  the  divine  supremacy  of  law  lends  ic> 
dominating  power  to  all  social  and  political  relationships. 

The  "compact"  idea  of  national  government,  as  entertained 
by  such  master-minds  as  Clay  and  Webster,  Calhoun  and  Doug- 
lass, went  down  when  the  well  poised  mind  of  Lincoln  built  his 
moral  standard  of  social  order,  around  which  aroused  humanity 
could  rally  and  march  on  together  for  the  redemption  of  the 
world.  He  made  potent  and  plain  the  divine  right  of  man  to  a 
civil  government,  i)ut  the  divine  right  of  man  to  govern  he  stead- 
fastly denied. 

As  truly  as  Christ  made  incarnate  the  Spiritual  Kingdom 
of  God  upon  earth,  so  Lincoln  incarnated  the  true  ideal  of  civil 
government  among  men.  He  stands  before  us  as  the  great  High 
Priest  of  the  Nation,  and  laid  the  willing  sacrifice  of  the  purple 
upon  the  altar  of  their  patriotic  devotion.  So  we  close  as  we 
began,  with  the  mystery  of  his  personality  still  unsolved,  but 
with  the  imtarnished  glory  of  immortal  deeds  as  bright  as  the 
sunlight  in  the  heavens. 


174  f-JFK    AND    LARORS   OF   A    PIONEER 


CHAi  TER  XX\"III. 
Political  Equality. 

TT  is  so  eminently  right  that  under  the  principles  of  our  govern- 
nient  a  woman's  position  politically  should  be  exactly  equal 
to  that  of  a  man  (and  the  opposite  theory  or  assumption  is  so 
wrong)  that  it  becomes  almost  certain  that  when  once  the  full 
realization  of  the  justice  of  it  is  grasped  by  everyone  there  will 
remain  no  opposition  whatever. 

The  doctrine  of  "suffrage  for  woman,"  as  well  as  "suflfrage 
for  man,"  will  come  in  time  to  be  a  very  axiom,  concerning  which 
there  can  be  no  argument.  The  objections  raised  at  present  will 
be  fully  exposed  as  being  as  unreasoning  and  as  contrary  to  sound 
thinking  as  are  any  of  the  fallacies  in  logic.  After  that  they  will 
be  as  easily  overthrown  whenever  they  arise  as  is  the  proposi- 
tion, "two  and  two  don't  make  four" ;  or  this  one,  "two  apples 
and  three  oranges  make  five  peaches" ;  or  this,  "three  apples  away 
from  seven  peaches  leaves  four  apples." 

It  will  come  yet  to  be  fully  recognized  and  acknowledged 
that  "a  government  by  the  people  and  of  the  people"  means  just 
that,  and  does  not  mean  "a  government  by  and  of  a  part  of  the 
people." 

It  will  be  seen  that  if  "political  power  inheres  in  the  peo- 
ple" and  is  an  universal  human  right,  then  there  is  no  possible 
logical  way  in  which  to  deny  that  power  to  women,  who  are 
incontrovertibly  people,  neither  more  nor  less. 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  I75 

In  lime  it  will  be  freely  acknowledged  by  everyone  that  if 
governments  must  "derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed,"  then  women,  because  tliey  are  certainly  governed, 
by  no  means  that  can  possibly  be  righteously  devised  are  to  be 
prevented  from  expressing  that  consent  exactly  as  do  men. 

It  will  be  seen  clearly  in  the  future,  although  it  may  fail  to 
be  so  clearly  apparent  today,  that  if  for  one  class  of  persons 
"taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny,"  then  it  is  tyranny 
for  each  and  every  class  of  persons. 

When  it  comes  to  be  fully  perceived  that  there  is  no  way  in 
which  to  exclude  half  the  people  from  rights  that  are  conceded 
to  belong  to  all  people,  then  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  no  ar- 
guments to  deprive  women  of  freedom  and  equality,  that  may 
not  be  applied  also  to  men.  Such  arguments  simply  deny  the 
principles  of  our  Constitution  and  Declaration  of  Independence ; 
they  justify  tryanny  and  despotism  ;  they  take  awav  the  only  ti- 
tle that  any  man  holds  to  his  own  ballot. 

When  this  is  clearly  understood  and  appreciated  there  will 
be  no  one  left  who  will  attempt  to  maintain  such  an  inconsistent, 
dangerous  and  absolutely  contradictory  and  impossible  position. 

At  that  time  the  objections  and  so-called  arguments  which 
are  now  from  time  to  time  presented  will  be  no  more  heard  of. 
for  they  will  be  clearly  seen  to  have  no  bearing  or  application 
upon  the  subject  of  political  equality,  the  ballot  and  the  suflfrage, 
or  if  they  have,  to  apply  with  equal  justness  to  men  as  to  women. 
It  will  be  recognized  that  the  health  or  alleged  invalidism  of 
women  is  not  a  factor  in  the  matter.  Why  should  it  be?  It  is 
not  in  the  case  of  men.  Our  theory  of  democracv  is  not  "gov- 
ernment on  the  consent  of  the  athletic."    We  nowhere  read  "Tax- 


176  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

ation  without  representation  in  the  case  of  sound  lungs  and 
trained  muscles  is  tyranny."  nor  "Political  power  inheres  in  the 
people  who  train  the  g}'mnasium." 

When  the  matter  is  rigiitly  looked  into  everybody  is  goine: 
to  acknowledge  right  joyfully  that  there  is  no  sound  reasoning 
in  depriving  half  the  governed,  the  taxed  and  the  people  of 
political  rights,  on  the  score  that  for  them  to  earn  their  own 
living  is  to  compete  for  wages  with  men,  the  same  being  unfair 
to  the  men.  For  everybody  will  see,  upon  hardly  looking  at  the 
thing  twice,  that  in  depositing  a  ballot  is  in  no  way  earning 
one's  living,  therefore  voting  women  do  not  compete  one  whit 
more  than  non-voting  women  have  already  done  and  are  still 
doing.  In  fact  it  will  be  seen  that  this  whole  matter  belongs 
under  the  category,  "working  or  not  working  as  applied  to  wom- 
en," and  not  in  the  remotest  degree  under  the  category,  "vot- 
ing or  not  voting  as  applied  to  women." 

When  it  becomes  fully  enough  recognized  and  acknowledged 
that  the  whole  question  of  the  vote  for  women  is  a  question  of 
right,  justice  and  the  consistent  (and  therefore  necessary)  ap- 
plication of  the  principles  of  the  government  under  which  we 
live,  no  more  will  be  said  about  the  necessity  for  each  woman,  or 
even  for  a  majority  of  women,  wishing  and  demanding  it. 

Does  the  right  of  slaves  to  be  freed,  and  not  enslaved  of  any 
man,  dei>end  upon  a  wish  and  demand  upon  the  part  of  the 
slaves  ? 

Does  the  right  and  desirability  of  school  facilities  for  ev- 
ery child  in  the  lancl  rest  upon  the  wish  and  the  demand  of  the 
children  of  the  land  ? 

Has  the   right  of  women  to  a   share   in    whatever  highest 


ON    TIIIv    PACIFIC    COAST    SIXCK    1 853  I77 

educational  opportunities  the  country  affords,  existed  only  since 
every  woman,  or  since  a  majority  of  the  women,  have  wished 
and  demanded  it  ?  So  far  is  this  from  representing  the  case,  that 
only  the  smallest  proportion  of  women  are  concerned  in  that 
privilege  and  avail  themselves  of  it.  For  every  woman  wiio 
avails  herself  of  a  college  education,  there  are  two-fold,  four- 
fold, aye,  ten- fold  as  many  women  demanding  for  themselves 
and  their  sisters  the  right  of  representation  and  self-govern- 
ment. 

Why,  at  the  beginning  in  this  country,  when  the  question 
of  a  woman's  right  to  education  first  arose,  it  was  not  by  any 
means  a  question  of  collegiate  or  university  education.  The 
question  then  was,  "shall  a  woman  be  accorded  that  very  man- 
nish privilege  and  accomplishment,  the  power  to  read  and  write?" 
Be.  sure  there  were  just  as  many  opponents  then  as  there  are 
to  the  more  advanced  woman  question  to  today.  There  was 
an  almost  overpowering  fear  that  if  women  should  be  able  to 
read  in  books  they  would  misuse  their  powers  and  neglect  their 
duties.  With  such  a  masculine  fear  as  that  in  the  air,  do  you 
suppose  a  very  large  proportion  of  women  either  openly  or  se- 
cretly advocated  "education  for  women"?  And  when  men  rec- 
ognize the  right  of  a  woman  to  a  vote,  and  abide  consistently 
by  that  recognition,  th-ey  will  themselves,  without  troubling 
themselves  much  as  to  woman's  own  attitude  in  the  matter,  ad- 
vocate and  demand  political  position  for  women.  In  those  days 
how  enormously  will  increase  the  proportion  of  the  gentle  se.x 
who  "demand"  it ! 

An  objection  has  lately  been  presented :  "While  woman  re- 
mains the  religious  slave  that  she  is.  I  doubt  that  it  would  be 


I/S  LIFE    AXU    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

right  to  put  that  dangerous  weapon  (the  ballot)  into  her  hands. 
I  am  for  all  reforms,  but  there  are  50  per  cent  more  women 
than  men  in  the  ciiurches.  these  pious  women  all  strongly  under 
the  influence  of  priest  and  parson.  Now,  if  the  ballot  should 
be  put  in  the  hands  of  woman,  I  fear  that  religious  persecution 
would  be  carried  on  upon  a  gigantic  scale.  Haven't  Christians 
always  persecuted  when  they  had  the  power?  If  she  is  going 
to  help  the  clergy  fight  the  people  in  their  just  demands  she 
should  not  have  the  ballot." 

Perhaps  it  will  be  remembered  that  this  same  objection  was 
very  strongly  presented  in  San  Francisco  a  year  or  so  ago. 

The  fact  remains  that  our  government  is  a  government  of 
and  by  the  people:  not  "a  part  of  the  people."  It  is  not  a  theory 
of  democracy  or  popular  government  that  people  who  would 
vote  as  you  would,  or  as  I  would,  or  as  someone  else  thinks 
proper,  may  have  that  privilege ;  but  that  all,  equally,  shall 
share  political  duties,  responsibilities  and  privileges. 

In  some  of  the  largest  of  the  churches,  and  in  some  of  the 
sects,  there  is  seen  to  be  a  very  goodly  proportion  indeed  of 
men.  Yet  those  men  themselves  are  not  disfranchised  on  that 
account,  much  less  are  all  other  men  disfranchised  because  of 
them.  Is  a  man  who  is  a  Christian  less  dangerous  than  a  woman 
who  is  a  Christian?  If  I  mistake  not,  those  Christians  who 
persecuted  for  opinion's  sake,  when  they  had  the  power,  in  the 
darker  ages  of  the  world,  were  mostly  men.  The  spirit  of  the 
time  in  which  we  live  safely  may  be  counted  with.  The  fear  of 
a  religious  persecution  in  California,  conducted  by  ministers  and 
women  overly  pious,  may  safely  be  dismissed  as  a  grossly  ex- 
aggerated one.     Make  woman  less  a  slave  outside  the  church, 


ON    THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCK    1853  I/Q 

teach  her  to  relv  upon  her  reason  more,  and  doubtless  she  will 
become  less  a  "slave"  within  the  church.  But  all  women  who 
are  periodically  seated  in  churches  are  not  slaves  to  supersti- 
tion. There  are  many  other  elements  in  society  fully  as  dan- 
gerous, and  yet  men  are  not  disfranchised  and  made  into  a 
legally  and  politically  degraded  class  because  of  them.  That  is 
not  the  theory,  as  cannot  be  too  often  repeated,  upon  which 
American  government  and  the  ballot  rest. 

Ah,  the  many  "fears,"  which,  existing  in  men's  minds  con- 
cerning women,  are  counted  as  valid  reasons  for  depriving  wom- 
en of  their  just  share  in  the  dignity  of  a  government  of  whose 
burdens  they  bear  their  full  proportion.  Women  may  not  go  to 
the  polls  once  a  year  to  express  openly  and  worthily  their  wishes 
and  opinions  upon  city,  county  and  state  affairs,  all  of  which 
concern  them  as  much  as  men.  Why  not?  Because  men  "fear" 
that  women  would  thereupon  change  from  being  women ;  would 
desert  and  neglect  their  homes ;  would  adopt  public  lecturing  as 
their  profession ;  would  go  to  w^ork  to  earn  their  own  living, 
particularly  in  some  really  remunerative  way ;  that  they  would 
close  up  the  saloons  and  deprive  men  of  the  right  to  buy  drinks  ; 
that  they  would  inaugurate  a  religious  persecution  in  the  state ; 
aye,  one  of  the  "fears"  of  men  that  deprive  women  of  a  vote  is 
the  "fear"  that  they  do  not  want  it. 

Most  of  these  alarms  are  concerned  with  a  possible  future 
injustice  or  wrong  which  might  happen  to  somebody.  And  yet 
there  is  no  concern  about  a  present  injustice  to  millions  of  wom- 
en— in  fact,  to  half  the  nation.  Because  some  people  fear  wom- 
an's goodness,  and  some  fear  her  badness,  seems  in  the  liglit 
of  calm  reflection  and  candid  reasoning  but  a  poor  argument  for 


l8o  LIFE   AND   LABORS  OF  A   PIONEER 

maintaining  that  she  sliould  be  prevented  from  being  considered 
a  responsible  human  being,  with  the  same  rights  in  the  govern- 
ment under  which  she  Hves  as  are  so  carefully  secured  to  even 
the  least  noble  of  men. 

We  let  democrats  make  mistakes,  and  populists,  and  repub- 
licans, if  they  can ;  we  do  not  confine  the  male  ballot  to  those 
who  never  cast  it  wrongly  or  mistakenly;  yet  we  relegate  women, 
in  their  own  eyes  and  in  the  eyes  of  "ignorant  men  and  small 
boys,"  to  a  lower  step  or  scale  of  civilization  than  that  of  the 
most  uninstructed,  newly-naturalized  foreign  citizen,  Just  "for 
fear"  she  might  make  mistakes ! 

Xo  woman  believes  that  the  millenium  will  come  when  wom- 
en begin  to  vote.  Men's  votes  have  never  been  able  to  bring  it 
about,  so  why  expect  hers  to?  But  men's  and  women's  together 
will  be  better  than  either  alone.  And  the  votes  of  good  citizens, 
men  and  women,  will  outnumber  those  of  all  the  bad  citizens  in 
the  land,  if  only  good  men  will  do  their  full  political  duty. 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  181 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Classification. 

The  very  thing  we  wish  to  know,  and  the  thing  which  furn- 
ishes the  key  to  the  question  under  discussion,  is,  what  is  the 
difiference  between  moral  beauty  and  spiritual  beauty?  Why  was 
it  that  the  young  man  who  was  morally  beautiful,  was  declared 
by  Christ  not  to  be  spiritually  beautiful  ?  Why  do  qualities  known 
by  the  same  names  and  definitions  in  the  one  case  and  conection 
appear  right  and  excellent  and  in  the  other  wrong  and  defective? 

Until  these  questions  can  be  answered,  it  seems  to  us  but 
little  advance  can  be  made  towards  a  clear  and  proper  classifica- 
tion in  the  science  of  religion.  Confusion  here  leaves  the  whole 
question  disjointed  and  superficial.  The  Bible  is  full  of  state- 
ments directing  the  mind  to  some  fundamental  difference  in  moral 
standing  between  the  two  charcters  ?  What  is  it  ?  In  what  does  it 
consist?  Our  author  should  have  answered  these  questions  in  his 
article  on  "Classification." 

We  fear  that  our  author  has  made  a  very  serious  mistake 
in  iiis  effort  to  trace  an  analogy  between  the  moral  development 
of  the  natural  man  and  the  spiritual  man.  It  seems  to  us  that  the 
same  moral  i)rinciples  or  elements  must  enter  into  the  structure 
of  the  character  of  both.  Whence  then  the  difference?  Is  it  not 
found  in  the  different  natural  powers  or  faculties  in  man  which 
is  used  in  the  apprehension  of  moral  truth?  Why  is  love  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law  ?    Because  love  is  the  highest  and  most  potent 


l82  LIFE    AND    LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

element  for  assimilation  of  moral  principles.  Mere  intellectual 
assent  or  belief  never  can  touch  the  secret  springs  of  life.  But 
love  makes  the  object  upon  which  it  fixes  itself  a  part  of  our 
very  selves.  "The  devils  believe  and  tremble."  But  the  devils 
never  are  said  to  love  and  tremble.  They  tremble  because  they 
cannot  love,  while  knowing  that  their  very  nature  must  forever 
remain  destitute  of  that  moral  facult\-  that  can  make  them  spirit- 
ual and  give  hope. 

We  should  have  been  better  pleased,  and  for  that  matter 
better  instructed,  had  our  author  defined  more  clearly  and  care- 
fully the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  fallible  and  the  in- 
fallible in  theology.  To  assert  that  "faith  in  infallibility  is  noth- 
ing but  rank  credulity,"  is,  to  say  the  least,  stating  but  half  a 
truth.  If  anywhere  in  the  universe  there  is  to  be  found  the  in- 
fallible, certainly  it  must  be  somewhere  in  theology.  Infallibility 
belongs  to  interpretation,  but  prophecy  belongs  to  inspiration.  In- 
spiration is  infallible,  but  interpretation  is  by  the  authority  and 
intelligence  of  man.  Hence  the  Apostle  placed  prophesying  ai 
the  best  of  all  spiritual  gifts  "but  rather  that  ye  may  prophesy" 
is  the  noble  climax  that  ended  his  grand  and  earnest  exhortation 
to  his  brethern  to  covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts. 

Xo  one  will  ijretend  to  say  thai  there  is  no  difference  be- 
tween believing  in  justice  and  loving  justice,  between  believing 
in  wisdom  and  loving  wisdom,  of  believing  in  truth  and  loving 
truth.  All,  even  the  most  unlearned,  can  see  the  diflference  at 
once.  Here  is  seen  the  diflference  then  between  the  natural  moral 
man  and  the  spiritual  moral  man.  Love  is  the  transforming 
power  in  the  spiritual  sphere.  This  is  what  makes  perfect.  No- 
where in  the  sphere  of  life  can  we  find  aii  element  superior  to 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  183 

this.  We  can  find  morality  without  it,  but  not  spirituality. 
Knowledge  pufifeth  up,  that  is,  makes  men  look  very  fine,  but  it 
is  charity  or  love  that  edifyeth,  or  buildeth  up, — "God  is  love," 
and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God.  "If  ye  love  me 
keep  my  commandments."  This,  then,  is  the  difference  between 
the  moral  natural  man  and  the  moral  spiritual  man.  The  form- 
er is  exalted  by  knowledge,  the  latter  is  transformed  by  love,  or 
bv  God,  for  God  is  love. 


184  I'IFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

"It  is  finished,"  Jesus  said, 
When  in  death  He  bowed  his  head; 
"I  niv  Father's  work  have  done, 
Glorified  Him  as  the  Son." 

Seated  on  His  Father's  throne, 
He  the  Kingdoms  calls  his  own. 
Purchased  with  His  precious  blood, 
He  would  bring  us  back  to  God. 

Always  he  is  with  us  here, 
Let  not  then  our  spirits  fear, 
He  will  ever  be  our  friend, 
Keep  and  guide  us  to  the  end. 

He  will  teach  us  how  to  win, 
How  to  conquer  death  and  sin. 
How  to  live  from  day  to  day. 
Walking  in  the  narrow  way. 

He  that  "overcometh"  here. 
Striving  in  his  love  and  fear, 
Shall  upon  His  throne  sit  down, 
Wear  with  Him  a  victor's  crown. 

In  that  house  not  made  with  hands, 
There  the  throne  forever  stands, 
Truth  of  greatest  mystery, 
God  in  Christ  and  Christ  in  thee. 


ON  the;  pacific  coast  since  1853  185 

No  treacherous  strains  from  Herme's  lyre  shall  rise, 
To  close  our  Argus'  ever  watchful  eyes, 

When  sage  or  hero  shall  their  country  serve. 
Our  faithful  Clio  will  their  fame  preserve, 
But  let  them  never  seek  to  soar  too  high, 
Or  like  Icarius  they  may  fall  and  die. 

Who  plans  the  tree  must  wait  the  circling  years 
Before  the  flower  and  golden  fruit  appears, 
The  pushing  roots  must  feel  the  quickening  power 
Of  careful  culture  and  of  generous  shower ; 
Redundant  branches  must  expect  to  feel 
The  painful  pressure  of  the  Pruner's  steel. 
And  o'er  symmetric  beauty  we  impart 
We  add  to  nature's  force  the  skill  of  art. 

When  Phaon's  hand,  by  heavenly  wisdom  led, 

The  magic  ungent  o'er  his  body  spread, 

Supernal  beauty  glowed  on  all  his  frame, 

Firing  his  spirit  with  a  god-lit  flame ; 

Admiring   Sappho   dropped   her   trembling  lyre, 

And  sudden  wonder  checked  the  jwet's  fire. 

So  shall  the  expanding  beauty  of  our  land. 

Touched  by  the  plastic  power  of  freedom's  hand, 

While  joyful  patriots  viewing  shall  admire 

Our  altars  glowing  with  celestial  fire. 

And  happy  millions  shall  pronounce  her  name 

And  spread  the  knowledge  of  her  well-earned  fame. 


lS6  LIFE   AND    LABORS   01?   A    PIONEER 

The  shades  gather  round  us,  we  lay  down  to  slumber, 
Our  yesterdays  gone  and  we  heed  not  their  number ; 
We  dream  of  the  liappiness  promised  to-morrow, 
But  open  our  eyes  on  a  heart-breaking  sorrow. 

Then  again  we  retire  to  our  sighing  and  weeping, 
But  our  faith  places  all  in  the  Master's  safe-keeping, 
When  lo !  all  the  gloom  that  our  spirits  enshrouded 
Pass  awa\ ,  and  we  gaze  on  a  morning  unclouded. 

Lo,  wc  pass  from  our  yesterdays  into  the  present. 
And  we  pause  not  to  think  it  is  gloomy  or  pleasant. 
For  hope  spread  her  pinions  and  soars  to  tomorrow. 
Where  she  never  can  see  either  sighing  or  sorrow. 

So  passes  our  life,  whether  waking  or  sleeping. 
Calm  following  storm  while  joy  follow^s  weeping. 
But  all  will  unite  to  complete  the  glad  story. 
And  add  to  the  "weight"  of  eternity's  glory. 

"Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  path  ' 

—"Psalmist." 


Thou  source  of  light !  to  Thee  wc  raise 
Our  songs  of  gratitude  and  praise 
For  all  Thy  favors  given : 
But  brightest,  best,  and  most  divine. 
Is  that  which  on  our  spirits  shine 
And  guides  our  steps  to  heaven. 


ON    THK   PACIFIC   COAST    SINCE    1853  187 

Now,  Brother  Markham,  let  us  pause  and  calmly  state  the  case, 
Not  every  one  that's  swift  of  foot  will  surely  win  the  race, 
Not  all  the  battles  here  we  fight  is  given  to  the  strong. 
Not  every  man  that  has  a  hoe,  will  to  that  hoe  belong. 
Our  Washington,  when  he  was  young,  possessed  a  little  hatchet, 
And  when  he  grew  to  be  a  man,  he  had  a  hoe  to  match  it. 
And  Putnam,  Stark  and  other  men  who  fought  our  battle, 
Knew  how  to  plow  and  use  the  hoe,  and  feed  their  sheep  and 

cattle. 
Go  tell  your  "lords  and  masters"  then,  who  tread  on  nature's 

law. 
They'll  have  a  mighty  funny  job  in  pulling  down  our  jaw, 
And  if  they  undertake  the  task  of  pushing  "back  our  brow," 
They'll  see  how  quickly  hoe  men  here  can  raise  a  fearful  row. 
"The  emptiness  of  ages"  then  is  in  the  hoe  man's  "face," 
I  think  on  second  thought  you'll  find  'tis  in  another  place, 
For  when  your  "lords  and  masters"  come,  w^e  shut  the  door  and 

lock  it. 
For  all  the  "emptiness"  in  fear  is  "emptiness"  of  pocket. 
"The  whirlwinds  of  rebellion''  was  a  figure  neat  and  grand, 
And  we  hope  to  see  it  sweeping  on  the  sea  and  on  the  land, 
Not  the  one  that  bringeth  weeping,  sighing,  blood  and  tear, 
But  the  "whirlwind"  of  the  ballot  is  the  one  the  rulers  fear. 
And  now.  my  Hrother  Markham.  let  us  give  each  other  aid. 
While  we  all  march  on  together  now  in  freedom's  bold  crusade, 
And  then  your  kings  and  rulers  here  will  surely  see  and  know 
That  freedom's  best  defenders  are  the  men  that  use  the  hoe. 


l88  LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF  A    PIONEER 

As  we  sail  o'er  life's  sea  to  the  harbor  of  rest, 
While  our  speed  may  be  swift  or  slow, 
It  is  not  the  gales  but  the  set  of  the  sails 
That  tells  us  the  way  to  go. 

If  our  eye  is  fixed  on  the  star  above, 

And  the  spirit  is  true  and  brave, 

We  shall  know  no  fear  when  the  tempest  is  near, 

And  we  ride  on  the  crested  wave. 

Though  the  winds  may  sweep  o'er  the  ocean  deep, 
And  the  tides  may  come  and  go. 
We  must  reach  the  goal  by  the  set  of  the  sail. 
And  not  by  the  currents  that  flow. 

Then  steady  the  helm  as  you  sail  along, 
Keep  the  pole-star  ever  in  view, 
And  so  you  will  feel  some  pleasure  or  weal, 
You  have  done  the  best  you  knew. 

Then  when  at  last  the  voyage  shall  end. 
And  the  haven  of  rest  you  see. 
You  shall  know  the  hand  that  guided  you  on 
Ruled  the  tempest  on  blue  Gallilee. 


ON   THE    PACIIfIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  189 

It  is  easier  to  criticise  men's  defects  than  to  emulate  their 
merits. 


Beware  of  the  statesman  who  serves  men  for  the  sake  of 
ruHng  them,  but  cleave  to  the  one  who  rules  men  for  the  sake  of 
serving  them. 

Eulogies  and  tombstones  reveal  the  startling  fact  that  "none 
but  good  men  die." 


He  who  believes  in  immortality  makes  the  soul  a  star,  but 
he  who  disbelieves  in  it  makes  the  soul  a  candle. 


We  are  placed  in  this  world  not  to  afford  us  opportunities 
for  indulgence,  but  to  be  disciplined. 


It  is  difficult  to  tell  whether  men  display  more  folly  in  spend- 
ing money,  or  in  keeping  it. 


Beware  how  you  attempt  to  get  rid  of  one  evil  by  exchang- 
ing it  for  another. 


Unless  men  continually  strive  to  make  new  friends,  there 
will  soon  be  nothing  to  supplv  the  place  of  the  old  ones. 


He  who  sees  himself  as  he  sees  others  will  "see  himself  a; 
others  see  him." 


Placed  side  by  side  with  the  teachings  of  Christ,  all  world- 
ly wisdom  seems  like  driveling  folly. 


190  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A   PIONEER 

It  is  often  difficult  to  determine  whether  it  requires  more 
work  to  move  the  world  forward  than  it  does  to  prevent  it  from 
going  backward. 


Remember  you  have  two  ears :  while  an  angel  may  be  speak- 
ing into  one,  beware  that  the  devil  does  not  whisper  into  the 

other. 


The  world  is  saved,  not  by  trying  to  keep  it  as  good  as  it 
is,  but  by  laboring  to  make  it  better  than  it  is. 


The   Christian   can   safely  dispense   with  greatness,   but  he 
cannot  dispense  with  his  goodness. 


Our  faults  are  like  our  faces,  more  plainly  to  be  seen  by 
others  than  bv  ourselves. 


Xo  man  need  tell  us  he  is  happy  now, 
If  sin  has  set  her  signet  on  his  brow. 


While   we  take   warning  by  others'   follies,  others   may  be 
taking  warning  by  ours. 


Except  the   future  take   character   from  the  present,  there 
can  be  no  motive  for  progress  or  security  for  virtue. 


The  radicalism  of  to-day  will  be  the  conservatism  of  tomor- 
row. 


ON    THE    PACIFIC    COAST    SINCE    1853  IQI 

There  are  two  things  that  man  proves  the  existence  of,  God 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 


When    religious    sentiment   reacts   against   credulity,   it    will 
soon  begin  to  react  against  skepticism. 


Bv  being  too  eager  for  fame,  we  are  in  danger  of  attaining 
infamv. 


The  more  we  learn  to  improve  without  suffering,  the  less 
will  we  be  likely  to  suffer. 


Naught  can  inspire  to  great  endeavor 
But  hope  which  says,  "We  live  forever." 


Never  turn  away  from  the  Hill  of  Difficulty  lest  you  run 
into  the  Slough  of  Despond. 


Never  allow  your  imagination  to  borrow  strength  from  your 
weakness. 


It  is  not  often  that  our  reasoning  measures  up  to  the  de- 
mands of  our  reason. 


No  man   will  be  likely  to  be  saved  unless  he  thinks  he  is 
worth  saving  . 


He   who  thinks  troubles  worse  than   they  are  makes  tiiem 
worse  than  thev  need  be. 


19-2  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF  A   PIONEER 

We  will  raise  our  standard  higher  as  our  souls  receive  the  light, 
And  our  faltering  footsteps  quicken  in  the  pathway  of  the  right, 
And  the  nations  that  have  doubted  us  and  called  our  doctrines 

wrong, 
Shall   see  when   freedom  touches  man   it  makes  him  wise  and 

strong. 

And  what  we  find  we  ought  to  be,  and  what  we  are  without, 
We  will  all  unite  together  now  to  bring  it  all  about. 
So  that  freedom's  radiant  banner  that  our  fathers  once  unfurled, 
Shall  shed  its  beams  of  promise  on  the  nations  of  the  world. 


Men  grow  old,  but  mankind  is  always  young. 


The  Eastern  Sages  used  to  say. 
However  bright  or  dark  the  day, 
"This,  too,  will  quickly  pass  away." 


While  we  cannot  be  too  good,  we  may  be  too  scrupulous;  to 
extinguish  a  burning  house,  we  may  sometimes  find  it  necessary 
to  break  down  a  door  or  a  window. 


Curable  evils  requires  energy  to  overcome  and  destroy  them, 
incurable  ones  require  patience  to  bear  them. 


While  God  expects  us  to  make  mistakes,  He  also  expects  us 
to  profit  by  them. 


ON   THE   PACIFIC    COAST   SINCE    1853  193 

While  the  order  of  nature  is  fixed,  prayer  may  enable  us  to 
see  that  order  and  work  in  harmony  with  it. 


Wisdom  is  the  essence  of  knowledc^e.     It  is  distilled  in  the 
retort  of  experience  and  gathered  in  the  vials  of  patience. 


One  of  the  worst  things  we  can  do  it  to  do  nothing. 


Many  an  ambitious  man,  like  Sisyphus,  toils  and  struggles 
to  roll  a  stone  up  the  hill,  only  to  see  it  roll  back  again  after  it  has 
reached  the  summit. 


Our  progress  in  wisdom  \\  ill  be  slow  if  we  fail  to  see  that 
there  are  examples  to  be  shunned  as  well  as  examples  to  be  imi- 
tated. 


The  church  that  worships  relics  only  show  that  in  their  es- 
lion 
live  one. 


timation  the  finger  of  a  dead  saint  is  better  than  the  soul  of  a 


Wisdom  is  cheap  at  any  price,  but  nothing  so  dear  as  vice. 


Virtue  makes  a  weak  man  strong,  but  vice  makes  a  strong 
man  weak. 


The  best  and  surest  way  to  help  others  is  to  show  them  how 
to  help  themselves. 


194  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF  A   PIONEER 

God's  grace  is  always  proportioned  to  our  efforts,  hence  he 
saves  us  by  showing  us  how  to  save  ourselves. 


Inspired  writings  must  have  been  inspired  readers.     Inspi- 
ration only  can  comprehend  inspiration. 


Good  sense  about  common  things  is  known  among  men  as 


'common  sense." 


When  there  is  but  one  side  to  a  question,  the  fool  generally 
takes  the  other  side. 


The  wise  man  will  not  only  train  himself  by  examples  to  be 
imitated,  but  also  by  examples  to  be  shunned. 


If  men  would  have  their  rights  respected  they  must  see  to 
it  that  they  are  protected. 


Whose  walk  is  heavenward,  when  his  body  dies, 
One  single  step  transports  him  to  the  skies. 


We  never  can  build  a  heavenly  mansion   after  an  earthly 
pattern.     All  our  efforts  will  be  but  "castles  in  the  air." 


The  good  in  us  and  the  good  in  the  world  around  us  grows 
by  small  accretions;  so  also  evils  wear  away  by  small  diminutions. 
To  seek  with  constant  solicitude  the  final  supremacy  of  the  for- 
mer, and  consef|uent  destruction  of  the  latter  is  not  only  the  de- 
sire of  the  wise  but  also  the  will  and  purpose  of  God. 


ON  the;  pacific  coast  since  1853  195 

It  is  not  enough  to  do  what  we  may  thing  to  be  right.  Wc 
must  first  learn  whiat  is  right.  The  bigot  will  do  the  former, 
while  it  leaves  him  a  bigot  still ;  while  the  wise  man  will  guide 
his  footsteps  by  the  light  of  intelligence  and  find  exaltation  and 
safety. 


The  enthusiast  is  the  man  who  talks  against  evil,  and  then 
acts  in  harmony  with  it. 


There  is  nothing  that  so  elevates  and  strengthens  the  human 
mind  as  to  feel  and  believe  that  we  are  moving  along  in  a  direc- 
tion ordained  by  Infinite  Wisdom  towards  an  end  worthy  of  an 
Infinite  Intelligence.  No  careful  student  of  American  history, 
it  seems  to  me,  can  fail  to  see  this,  in  a  special  and  prominent 
degree,  has  been  the  case  with  our  own  country.  Suppose  the 
march  of  American  civilization  had  begun  at  Florida  instead  of 
at  Plymouth  Rock. 


Everything  we  see  in  the  universe  around  us  seems  to  cover 
or  conceal  some  great  mystery.  Thus  it  is  that  ten  thousand 
voices  are  constantly  telling  us  of  a  yet  to  be. 


Evolution  placed  man  by  a  slow  and  seemingly  tedious 
-process  at  the  head  of  the  animal  kingdom,  but  personal  con- 
sciousness was  the  direct  spontaneous  gift  of  the  Creator.  "Let 
us  make  man  after  our  image."  Moral  life  was  the  gift  of  God 
and  not  the  product  of  evolution,  as  taught  by  Herbert  Spencer 
and  others. 


196  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

We  must  not  begin  the  present  century  by  drawing  around 
our  minds  the  dark  mantle  of  doubt  or  despair.  We  may  rest 
assured  that  the  world  can  never  settle  down  again  into  the  re- 
pose of  indifference,  or  fall  asleep  in  the  lap  of  evil  and  slavery. 
It  has  had  a  vision  that  it  will  never  forget.  It  has  caught  a 
glimpse  of  a  bright  concourse  of  forces  which  slowly  but  surely 
are  converging  to  one  grand  control  point,  will  surely  open  up 
to  humanity  a  brighter  and  a  better  day.  Said  Jesus,  "Except 
a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  bear  no  fruit." 
Death  is  the  condition  of  perpetual  resurrection. 

The  true  value  of  all  organized  labor,  whether  in  Church  or 
State,  is  to  bring  the  real  up  to  the  ideal.  The  principle  of 
Christianity  is  not  a  doctrine,  but  a  religious  experience,  "until 
Christ  be  formed  in  you." 


What,  let  me  ask  you,  is  the  source  of  all  rational  strength  ? 
Is  it  not  faith?  "Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God!" 
Whatever  we  approach,  whatever  we  touch,  whether  our  pur- 
pose be  to  appropriate  or  change  we  can  only  fortify  and 
strengthen  our  hearts  for  the  struggle  anrl  toil  by  the  power  of 
a  living  faith. 


We  should  always  remember  that  (very  thing  that  now  is, 
has  come  out  of  the  things  that  have  been,  and  that  all  things 
that  are  to  be,  must  come  from  things  that  now  are.  This  is  the 
evolutionary  order  of  creation  and  the  law  of  continuity  of  being. 
This  principle  also  reveals  the  Divine  order  of  Sequence  which 
prevails  alike  both  in  the  natural  and  spiritual  world. 


ON   THE   PACIFIC   COAST   SINCE    1853  197 

It  would  seem  at  first  view  a  trivial  and  unimportant  thing 
for  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  to  pause  in  his  stupendous  work 
and  turn  aside  to  mingle  for  a  tlay  or  an  hour  in  social  fellow- 
ship with  that  ideal  household  in  the  little  village  of  Bethany. 
But  we  have  learned  that  no  act  of  his  life  has  so  touched  the 
heart  of  humanity  as  this,  or  gathered  around  it  a  more  sub- 
lime moral  power.  The  gentle  and  loving  reproof  uttered  in 
the  ears  of  the  prophets,  the  solicitude  of  Martha  for  the  pleas- 
ures and  proprieties  of  the  passing  moment,  and  the  sweet  ap- 
proving words  that  held  the  loving  Mary  at  his  feet  in  eager 
quest  for  the  knowledge  of  the  higher  and  more  enduring,  has 
done  more  to  elevate  and  sanctify  womanhood  than  all  the  fine- 
spun theories  that  human  philosophy  has  ever  spoken  or  writ- 
ten in  praise  of  social  ana  domestic  duty  and  fellowship.  The 
former  has  brought  to  the  heart  light  and  joy  and  hope,  the  lat- 
ter toilsome  drudgery,  discouragement  and  sometimes  despair. 


May  freedom's  temple  in  its  beauty  rise 
And  court  the  favor  of  the  bending  skies. 
May  men  and  angels  join  in  glad  acclaim, 
To  tell  the  glory  of  its  deathless  name, 
And  every  eyes  behold  in  every  land 
Freedom  and  justice,  walking  hand  in  hand, 
And  read  along  the  fiaming  vault  of  heaven 
Triumphant  truth,  the  last  impression  given. 
Increasing  wrong  will  spread  our  country  o'er. 
And  we  shall  fall  as  others  fell  before. 


I9S  LIFE   AND   LABORS   OF   A    PIONEER 

I  think  we  may  truthfully  say  that  in  many  respects  the  early 
settlers  of  this  coast  were  unique  in  their  personal  characteris- 
tics which  they  exhibited,  the  ideals  which  they  followed  and  the 
types  of  manhood  which  they  sought  to  develop  and  exhibit.  The 
struggle  through  which  they  were  called  to  pass,  while  it  sharp- 
ened and  brightened  their  intellects,  did  not  blast  and  deaden 
their  human  sensibilities.  By  sheer  force  of  ability  many  of  them 
won  a  large  measure  of  success,  even  as  success  is  now  meas- 
ured in  this  stirring  and  commercial  age.  The  highest  hopes  we 
can  cherish  at  this  day  and  hour  of  our  State's  history  is,  that 
the  bright  and  noble  young  men  and  women  will  in  tiic  sway 
they  shall  give  to  the  years  of  the  past  will  be  able  to  fix  their 
thoughts  upon  some  noble  example  amongst  our  pioneer  fathers 
that  will  be  worthy  of  their  affection  and  imitation,  thus  trans- 
mitting into  a  living,  moving  force  these  exalted  elements  of 
human  character  which  alone  can  perpetuate  those  inestimable 
blessings  purchased  by  the  toil  and  sacrifice  of  the  past. 


A  statesman  who  is  worthy  of  name  should  have  as  deep  and 
as  profound  moral  convictions  as  does  the  man  who  ministers 
in  holy  things  at  the  altar  of  God's  house. 


While  strength  and  feebleness  was  the  antithesis  from  which 
or  by  which  the  Greek  philo.sophy  realized  the  divine,  sin  and 
righteousness  is  the  antithesis  by  wliich  Dedeism  and  Christian- 
itv  evolves  the  same  idea. 


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